


our bodies, possessed by light

by gabilliam (vvhymack)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Human Jaehyun, M/M, Vampire Doyoung, Vampire Yuta, elementary school teacher jaehyun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 12:09:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 34,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21253178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vvhymack/pseuds/gabilliam
Summary: Jaehyun opened the envelope to reveal a thick, textured paper with fancy font on it.You are invited to the home ofNakamoto Yuta & Kim Dongyoungfor dinner onThursday, the 28th7 P.M.Please contact the following number to discuss dietary restrictions:051 – 127 – 1995“You could have just told me,” Jaehyun said but he was grinning.“That’s what I told him but I think this was his sneaky way of giving you his number,” Yuta said nonchalantly.“Dongyoung, huh?” Jaehyun said instead of addressing whatever the fuck Yuta was implying. It was nothing.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this originally was just a drabble to compliment this idea from a tumblr post but it spiralled into This but that
> 
> "when will a husband and wife who are widely rumored to be vampires invite me up to their once gorgeous mansion which has fallen into some disrepair and then serve me a beautiful meal that they barely pick at, sipping from glasses of dry red wine instead as they take turns complimenting borderline salaciously while shooting each other conspiratorial looks that i don't know how to interpret before one of them insists that it's getting far too late for me to be going back home alone and now i simply must spend the night..... in case the implied ending wasn't clear enough: and then i get railed."
> 
> anyway, jaehyun doesn't get railed in this chapter but enjoy :D

The town was odd.

Jaehyun chalked it up to his unfamiliarity with small towns; he had spent most of his time in the bustling city. He just figured small town folk were different, the outer suburbs were a different life. He convinced himself he was just being paranoid when he noted that people acted just a tad bit _strangely_ or that the eeriness that would settle into the atmosphere was just natural in such locations.

Jaehyun dealt with it; after all, he knew he wouldn’t stay long. He was part of a teacher exchange program and his gig at this town was only for a semester. Then he would be back in the city, with his usual kids, with no strange fog or crowing birds or that occasional feeling in his gut that something was just a bit off.

The first week passed without incident. Jaehyun adjusted to the new environment, got used to the new building and started forming relationships with the new children under his care. His coworkers were great, hospitable. Johnny, the Vice President, was friendly and accommodating, personally walking Jaehyun through the entire complex and introducing him to others. Kun, another teacher, caught up with Jaehyun during lunch, falling into easy conversation with the new man. Taeyong, the administrator, was more than happy to show him the right way when he inevitably got lost. The children were great too, if a little – well, strange, again. But Jaehyun could understand. As a child, even he had been fascinated by things like the supernatural so when they talked about witches and demons with ease, Jaehyun brushed it aside. It was simply their childish imaginations.

Jaehyun lived as a tenant in Johnny’s house. Johnny assured him it was fine, that there was no conflict of interest in their relationship as employer and employee. Jaehyun accepted it. Small towns were like that, he assured himself. It wasn’t as though there were a lot of apartment buildings near the school or the community that surrounded it, anyway. In fact, the town was predominantly houses; villas and mansions and townhouses. It was quaint.

The first hitch, in retrospect, came a week after Jaehyun started at the elementary school. Jaehyun considered himself pretty good with faces so when he saw someone sitting in his spot beside Kun in the staff room, Jaehyun knew he had never seen this man before.

Even if Jaehyun _hadn’t_ been good with faces, he was sure he would remember the other man’s face. It was strikingly attractive and when he threw his head back in a laugh, flashing perfect teeth, something in Jaehyun’s gut swooped. He walked closer, unable to pull away.

“Oh, hey!” Kun said brightly once he saw Jaehyun approaching. “How’re you doing?”

“I’m alright,” Jaehyun smiled, standing somewhat awkwardly. Kun smiled back before his eyes widened in realization and he hit the man beside him.

“Get up, this is Jaehyun’s desk now,” Kun reprimanded and the man startled, standing up. Jaehyun tried to say that it was fine, the man could continue sitting but he had already gotten up and went to stand behind Kun’s chair, leaning against it.

“So, you finally got Choi’s place filled?” The other man asked.

“Temporarily,” Kun snorted. “Jaehyun’s only here for the semester. He’s part of a teacher exchange program.”

“Hello, Jaehyun,” The other man said, extending his hand forward. He said Jaehyun’s name softly and it sent a discreet shiver down his spine. “I’m Yuta.”

The man’s hand was cold to the touch but his grin was warm enough to compensate. He stuck around for a few more moments, asking Jaehyun about how he liked it in their small dreary town, if the constant cloudiness ever bothered him. Jaehyun had shrugged, saying he was adaptable.

“Is he a teacher?” Jaehyun asked when the man had walked away, leaving the staff room.

“He’s the football coach,” Kun informed him. “And the P.E. teacher. He was away on leave with his husband last week, that’s probably why you weren’t introduced.”

Ah. Husband. Jaehyun tamped out his disappointment successfully, telling himself it was ridiculous to feel crestfallen over a man he’d _just_ met. Jaehyun shook his head of all thoughts of the alluring man and got back to work, looking over his lesson plan for the day.

-

_winwin_  
hey dude  
how’re you doing

Jaehyun dropped his chopsticks as the messages came in and winced. He had forgotten to reply to Sicheng _again_.

_You_  
hey man  
sorry i haven’t replied :(  
i’ve been rly busy with school

_winwin_  
it’s fine, i get it  
i was just worried  
city boy all alone in the middle of nowhere

Jaehyun laughed, tension bleeding from his shoulders.

_You_  
ha ha  
it’s not the middle of nowhere  
you have a pin to where i live

_winwin_  
yeah  
the town’s spooky though

_You_  
i can deal with spooky

It was true. Jaehyun and Sicheng had done their research before Jaehyun had accepted the position and they had found out all sorts of things about the town and its bloody history. News articles about strange occurrences; disappearances and murders. There were far too many occult sites mentioning the small town. Sicheng had seemed worried, even though neither of them were superstitious. It didn’t particularly concern Jaehyun; he wasn’t a believer in the supernatural but he was interested in the stories; they were entertaining at best and comedic at worst. Most, though, we at least a decade or two old and Jaehyun knew that the town had lulled into a quiet serenity of a normal small town.

_winwin  
_have u found the gate to hell yet

_You_  
haven’t rly had much chance to explore outside the school and the grocery store tbh

“You’re cute when you smile,” A voice said and Jaehyun startled, fingers tightening around his phone in fear that he would drop it. Jaehyun looked up to find the coach, Yuta, sitting opposite him, looking at Jaehyun earnestly. Jaehyun hadn’t even heard him approach, he had been so wrapped up in his conversation with his best friend.

“Huh,” Jaehyun said eloquently. Yuta laughed, before reaching forward and pressing a cool finger against Jaehyun’s cheek. Despite the coolness of the touch, Jaehyun heated up.

“Dimples,” Yuta said. “They’re cute.”

“Ah,” Jaehyun replied. He willed himself to calm down. It wasn’t like him to get so flustered. “Thanks. I grew them myself.”

It was lame but Jaehyun felt warmth blossoming in his chest when Yuta let out a cackling laugh at the words, consuming any embarrassment he might have felt.

“Who’s got you all smiling?” Yuta asked curiously. “Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Partner? Wife? Husband? ”

“Just my best friend,” Jaehyun cut him off with a laugh before he could list on. “He’s back in the city.”

“Oh,” Yuta said, seeming oddly pleased. “Tell him I said hi.”

“Sure, I’ll tell him the football coach at the school said hi to him,” Jaehyun grinned. He knew the sentiment would bewilder Sicheng, who would send his tentative greetings back while muttering about what a weirdo the coach had to be.

“So, Jaehyun,” Again, the name came out as a purr, making Jaehyun lock eyes with the other man. “How’re you liking your stay here? Been sightseeing yet? We’re a small town but we have some nice places.”

“Funny, that’s what I was talking to Sicheng about,” Jaehyun said, shaking his phone. “I haven’t really had a chance to look around. Johnny’s said we’d go around town tomorrow, though.”

“Where are you going?” Yuta asked.

“Johnny said he’d take me to the best spots and I trust him,” Jaehyun said with a shrug. He had his own list in mind but Johnny had checked off most of those places when they’d spoken anyway.

“Johnny’s a pretty good guide, I guess,” Yuta mulled. “He grew up here.”

“What about you?” Jaehyun asked. “Have you always lived here?”

“We moved here so long ago, it feels like forever,” Yuta said easily. “I was born in Japan and then I lived in Seoul for a while. That’s where I met Doyoung.”

“Doyoung…?” Jaehyun inquired.

“Oh! My husband,” Yuta grinned widely at the mention, seeming enthusiastic to talk about his partner. The gesture made Jaehyun smile. It was endearing. “You haven’t met him yet, have you? We’ll host you at our place sometime! He’s a lawyer, so he’s busy a lot, driving up to the city’s courts but he should be finished with the case he’s working on soon.”

“Wow, a lawyer, that’s really cool,” Jaehyun said. Yuta was married to a hotshot lawyer, of course, he was. 

“Yeah, I’m like a trophy wife most of the time,” Yuta sighed dreamily. “It’s great!” He shakes his head, as though shaking the thoughts away. “Anyway. You simply _must_ come by. ”

“Um, sure,” Jaehyun said. He wasn’t sure how much he wanted to do that but he smiled politely. Soon, the polite smile faded into a genuine grin as they continued conversing, Jaehyun’s lunch going cold.

-

Jaehyun happened upon Doyoung the following day.

The school day ended and Jaehyun watched the last of his kids waddle over to their parents before he packed up and headed over towards the administration and Johnny’s office. Johnny was already good to go, leaning on the receptionist’s desk and talking to Taeyong when Jaehyun appeared.

“Hey, buddy,” Johnny said. _Buddy_. It didn’t sound weird or outdated when Johnny said it, it instead it came across as familiar and friendly. “Ready to go?”

“Yup,” Jaehyun nodded. They were going sightseeing, first heading over to lunch at a place Johnny swore by before hitting up some landmarks and monuments.

“You wanna join us for lunch?” Johnny asked Taeyong, who shook his head politely.

“No, thanks,” Taeyong smiled sweetly. Even though Jaehyun had only known the other man for a little over a week, he was already nursing a budding soft spot for him. It was hard not to. “I’ve already had a proper lunch.”

“I wish I could cook well,” Johnny said mournfully as they made their way outside the school. “My boyfriend and I are absolutely abysmal cooks.”

Jaehyun nodded. In the week that he had lived with Johnny, he had learned a lot about his boyfriend, Ten, though he’d never seen him. Johnny seemed to find a way to slip the other man into any conversation, almost as if he didn’t know how to not talk about him.

“I mean, it’s not that hard,” Jaehyun said. He wasn’t a spectacular cook but he could make his favourite dishes and comfort foods easily. “You just follow the recipe.”

“It never works out perfectly,” Johnny insisted. “We just look pleadingly at Kun or Taeyong or Doy- oh, hey, speak of the devil.” Johnny came to a sudden halt. “Not the literal devil .”

“I know, Johnny,” Jaehyun said in amusement. Despite the news articles about satanic rituals taking place in the town, he doubted the devil himself had shown up.

“It’s Doyoung,” Johnny said, gesturing towards the street, where a man stood with his arms crossed, leaning against a flashy car. He was wearing sunglasses, which Jaehyun thought was a little pretentious considering the sun barely ever peaked out of the clouds in this town. “We should go say hi.”

Before Jaehyun could say anything or they could move forward, Yuta came barreling out of the school, running towards the other man at an almost superhuman pace. Even from several paces away, Jaehyun could see the way the man’s face had transformed, a gummy grin taking over his face as he opened his arms, letting Yuta jump into them in pure elation. Jaehyun wanted to look away from the couple, feeling as though he was intruding on something intimate as Doyoung’s arms wrapped around his husband and pulled him close but he couldn’t, transfixed on the scene playing out in front of him. 

“God, we should intervene before they start making out in front of the school,” Johnny said under his breath before bellowing. “Hey, Doyoung!”

The two pulled away as Johnny and Jaehyun approached but they didn’t let go of each other, still pressed together as Doyoung’s hand resting on Yuta’s waist.

“You saw each other two days ago,” Johnny teased as they came to a stop in front of the couple.

“And?” Yuta asked defensively, unable to keep the grin off his face. “I can’t miss my husband?”

“Just don’t start sucking on each other’s tongues in front of the school,” Johnny said drily. Jaehyun flushed at the crude wording.

“That’s not the only thing I suck on – _what_,” Yuta whined when Doyoung swatted his arm. Doyoung was looking at Jaehyun, seeming apologetic but there was something calculating in his eyes as he looked Jaehyun over. Yuta seemed to catch on. “Oh. This is Jaehyun. He’s the new homeroom teacher for 3C.”

“Hi,” Jaehyun said, extending his hand. Doyoung’s hand was cool to the touch as well but it was smoother than Yuta’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Doyoung said but Jaehyun wasn’t sure how true that was. Doyoung still seemed to be observing him.

“Are you two going sightseeing today?” Yuta asked, taking Jaehyun’s attention away from Doyoung. “Have fun! Don’t forget to take him to –”

“Uh-uh,” Johnny stopped Yuta. “This is _my_ day with Jaehyun. Take him where you want to take him next time.”

“Maybe I will,” Yuta said with a glint in his eye. “What do you think, Jaehyun-ah? You want to go exploring with me?”

There was something in the tone of his voice, the look in his eyes, that arrested Jaehyun, made him unsure how to respond.

“He just came into town less than two weeks ago,” Doyoung said, sparing Jaehyun. “Don’t drive him out of town already, babe. The kids need him.”

“Are you calling me annoying?” Yuta said in mock affront but he was leaning closer to Doyoung.

“You _are_ annoying,” Doyoung pointed out but he was smiling fondly, no maliciousness behind his words as he leaned in. Before they could connect, Johnny cleared his throat loudly.

“You guys have an entire mansion to go fuck around in,” Johnny said and Doyoung rolled his eyes but pulled away, opening the passenger seat door for Yuta. Yuta slid in elegantly, rolling down the window and waving goodbye to Jaehyun and Johnny as Doyoung walked around to the other side and got into the passenger seat.

“Crisis averted,” Johnny said cheerfully as the car rolled away. “Saved you from having to watch them swap spit.”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun replied weakly. “Thanks for that.”

-

Jaehyun screamed, dropping the towel he was using to wipe his face onto the floor as he stepped into the kitchen and found what seemed like a homeless person sitting on the breakfast bar.

“What?” Johnny rushed into the room. “What is it?”

“He’s a screamer,” The man on the counter said mildly. Johnny huffed at the sight, patting Jaehyun’s back soothingly, as though realizing the panic that had shot through him.

“God, Ten,” Johnny groaned. “I _told_ you I’m having someone stay with me and not to show up like this.”

“You know that just made me want to do it more,” The man – Ten – insisted with a cheeky grin. Now that Jaehyun got a good look at him, despite his tattered and mismatched clothes, the man didn’t really look homeless. He looked clean and his face was kind, his smile friendly if mischievous. “Hey. I’m Ten.”

“Jaehyun,” Jaehyun offered.

“Oh, I know,” Ten’s smile was sly. “I’ve heard all about you.”

“Good things, I hope,” Jaehyun said, looking at Johnny, who just shrugged at him.

“Oh, the best things,” Ten grinned. “Yuta doesn’t shut up about you.”

Jaehyun blinked. He hadn’t expected that.

“You know Yuta?” Jaehyun asked. He shouldn’t be surprised. It was a small town, everyone seemed to know each other.

“Uh-huh,” Ten nodded. “He keeps going on in the group chat about you.”

“Well,” Jaehyun floundered. He wasn’t sure what to say; if it had been anyone else, Jaehyun would have smiled smugly, made a remark about how Yuta should tell him all the good things himself. But Jaehyun couldn’t do that. Yuta was _married_, happily so. Yuta was probably just being friendly, happy to have a new friend.

“Did everything go well?” Johnny asked as he set about taking out milk and cereal, as well as a small carton of orange juice for Jaehyun, which he gratefully took. He was breathless from his morning run, even more so after the mini heart attack Ten had given him.

“Yeah,” Ten answered vaguely before hopping off the breakfast bar and making his way to Johnny, wrapping an arm around his waist as he hugged him from the back. “I missed you.”

Jaehyun decided to grab breakfast from a bakery on the way to school as Johnny and Ten started speaking lowly to each other, not even noticing when Jaehyun slipped out of the kitchen. On his way out the door, his phone vibrated, his music’s volume lowering before picking up again.

_winwin  
_seen any satanists yet?

_You_  
didn’t one of your performers think he was the anti christ?

_winwin_  
oh god, thank god we got rid of him  
good luck for today

_You_  
thanks man

Despite settling into his new life, Jaehyun missed Sicheng. He missed their weekly movie nights and the times Jaehyun managed to drag Sicheng out for a morning run. Other than that, he missed his other friends; concerts with Seokmin, gym with Jungkook where they took over the television and put on anime, art galleries with Minghao. He felt like everyone in this town knew each other and they clearly talked about him and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it, not when he wasn’t looped in. It seemed like everyone he had run into had known each other for years, if not decades. 

As he walked, his eyes wandered to a particularly imposing house. Dark brown wood and black panelling, and under the dreary sky, it seemed even darker. The large lawn in front of it seemed unkempt and the house seemed ominous. It wasn’t boarded up or anything of the sort but Jaehyun couldn’t shake off the feeling that maybe it _should_ be. All the curtains in all the windows were drawn. 

Jaehyun’s eyes fell on the car in the driveway and he frowned. The car seemed familiar and Jaehyun slowed down as he tried to remember where he’s seen it.

The front door of the house flung open, immediately jogging Jaehyun’s memory as he saw Doyoung, Yuta’s husband, step out of the house. Far from his put together, slick look earlier, this Doyoung was in an oversized tee-shirt and pyjama bottoms, shuffling forward and crouching down to pet the cat that was rubbing itself against his legs. Doyoung stood up straight and stretched and then, as though noticing he was being watched, locked eyes with Jaehyun.

Jaehyun looked away immediately, face flushing in embarrassment.

“Hey,” Doyoung called out and when Jaehyun looked back, Doyoung was at the front gate, waving Jaehyun over. Jaehyun crossed the street cautiously.

“Hey,” Jaehyun said. “Sorry for, like, staring. I just recognized you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Doyoung said, waving Jaehyun’s apologies aside. “On your way to work? It’s a little early.”

“Grabbing some breakfast from the bakery,” Jaehyun said, nodding his head towards the general vicinity of the bakery.

“Oh,” Doyoung shook his head. “I forgot what a shitty cook Johnny was.”

“It’s fine,” Jaehyun said with a laugh. Somehow, hearing the other man casually cuss made Jaehyun feel more at ease. “I can cook myself but Johnny and Ten were being – well. I couldn’t use the kitchen.”

“Ah, yes,” Doyoung’s face screwed in disgust, making Jaehyun grin. It was a bit rich coming from someone who was going to start making out with his husband in front of an elementary school but Jaehyun didn’t bring that up. “Well, we’re making breakfast, if you’d like to join us.”

“Oh,” Jaehyun paused. “No, thank you, I couldn’t intrude –”

“You’re not,” Doyoung interrupted firmly. “I’m inviting you.”

“Thank you,” Jaehyun repeated softly, smiling. “Maybe some other time? I really want to try out that bakery.”

“Of course,” Doyoung smiled back. He opened his mouth to continue but he was interrupted by the cat at his feet letting out a loud wail. Doyoung rolled his eyes and looked down, speaking to the ginger tabby. “What? Yuta’s inside, go, he’ll feed you.”

To Jaehyun’s surprise, the cat listened, galloping away inside the open front door and out of sight in the dark home.

“Sorry,” Doyoung said. “Don’t let me keep you. It was nice seeing you again.”

“You too,” Jaehyun replied, stepping back and crossing the street again.

He couldn’t help looking back and almost stopped in his tracks in the middle of the street when he saw Doyoung looking at him as he walked away. When their eyes locked, he saw something akin to hunger in Doyoung’s eyes before he blinked and smiled widely at Jaehyun before turning around and stepping into his dark house and closing the door behind him.

It was almost as if Doyoung was checking him out.

Jaehyun shook the thoughts away as he approached the bakery Johnny had pointed out the other day when they had been too full to go in. It was his ego talking, Doyoung was a _married man. _To _Yuta_, someone Jaehyun – admired, he supposed was the word. Someone who shared an easy smile with Jaehyun, someone who challenged him on the field with his insufferable smirk, someone who was cold to the touch but so unbearably warm when he threw an arm over Jaehyun in victory in their dumb game. 

There was no point being melancholy about such things. If he didn’t feel better, he was only sticking around for a few months anyway.

-

_winwin_  
did you know there are vampires in your little town

_You_  
what :P

_winwin_  
apparently, there have been vampire sightings for centuries there  
it’s a nice vampire spot bc of the weather

_You_  
will let u know if i find any  
want their autograph?

Jaehyun huffed out a laugh and put his phone away. He went back to his activity for the day; sitting in a field near the woods, snacking on fruits and occasionally actually reading the book he had brought along. For the most part though, he had put his book aside to watch nature and to share his fruits with a rabbit that had hopped out brazenly from the woods, seemingly unafraid of being killed. It made Jaehyun warm inside, to be trusted by the brown, furry animal.

He admitted he did a bit of it for the aesthetic; he had already uploaded the picturesque scene to Instagram. But mostly, it was for the experience, to be able to bask in something he knew he wouldn’t have much access to once he made it back to the city. He knew once he got back into the routine of his old life that he wouldn’t find the time to come to this secluded town four hours away without traffic just for a few hours of serenity.

It was just as well, Jaehyun tried to convince himself. He _liked_ the city, the constant sounds of traffic, the way he was always surrounded by people and yet seemed to know none of them. He’d grown up with that, it was familiar to him. He told his thumping heart to not get used to this feeling.

There weren’t any other people in the field where he was. Understandably, since the weather was more dreary than usual and the patch that he had picked was a bit farther away from the main park. Jaehyun looked into the woods and smiled, taking out his phone and taking a picture.

_You_  
that’s where all the satanic rituals took place, right?

_winwin_  
oh god what r u doing  
stop setting urself up to be the protagonist of a horror movie

_You_  
:P

The brown bunny came back to him, hopping over and looking at Jaehyun expectantly. Jaehyun smiled at the tenacity of the little creature. There were only a few pieces of strawberry left but Jaehyun left another piece of the edge of the picnic blanket for the bunny to snatch and hop off with. This time, the bunny didn’t go far, as though learning at Jaehyun wasn’t going to take his gift back.

Jaehyun picked up his book again but he found it hard to concentrate. He put it down and looked over at the woods and for a moment, it felt like the woods were looking back. Jaehyun’s breath caught in his throat as he tried to brush the feeling off but it persisted. It didn’t help that the bunny had run off, leaving Jaehyun entirely alone; yet, Jaehyun didn’t feel alone – and not in a good way.

Even if Jaehyun didn’t believe in the supernatural, he didn’t want some crazy axe murderer to come running out of the woods and slice him to death on his nice picnic sheet. That’s why, he told himself, he started packing up. Not because the hair on the back of his neck stood as he felt a primal sense of fight or flight activate in him.

“Hey, you,” A voice said and Jaehyun prided himself in not yelping. He did, however, drop his lunch box just as he was about the close it. The rest of the fruits fell out. At least the brown bunny would have dinner. Jaehyun looked up to see Ten, of all people. And yet, Jaehyun felt sure Ten wasn’t the presence he still felt. “What’re you doing out here all on your own?”

“Picnic,” Jaehyun said, aiming for nonchalant. “I was just packing up.”

“Johnny has a backyard, you know,” Ten said. It seemed like he was trying to keep his voice light but his expression was serious. “It’s not safe to be so far from civilization around these parts.”

When Jaehyun looked at Ten once he’d packed up, he saw that Ten wasn’t looking at him. Instead, he was glaring beyond Jaehyun, into the woods. Gone was the easy smile and kind features; as his eyes flashed as he looked out into the woods, he looked positively frightening.

“Let’s go,” Ten said, his expression softening when he saw Jaehyun looking at him. He linked their arms together and started walking.

When Jaehyun looked back at the woods one last time, it felt a living entity, waiting for him to come back so that it could swallow him whole.

-

Jaehyun was still staring at the drawing Eun Ae had given him when he felt someone sit opposite him. It was lunchtime and he was sitting on one of the tables and chairs outside so it could only be one person. When he looked up and his suspicions were confirmed, he tried to throttle the butterflies in his stomach.

“What’re you thinking so deeply about, that you’re neglecting your meal?” Yuta asked. “You need to eat.”

“Does this town ever freak you out?” Jaehyun asked conversely, going back to his meal. Yuta seemed to ponder his question before answering.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t really believe in the supernatural,” Jaehyun explained. “But there’s something about the – I guess, the atmosphere of this town that makes me suspend my belief in reality. And then there’s this.” Jaehyun gestured at the paper and Yuta picked it up, looking at it with a frown before his eyes landed on the name at the edge of the paper.

“Ah,” He said knowingly. “Eun Ae.”

“You sound like you know something,” Jaehyun said. Yuta bit his lip.

“Why does this freak you out? It’s a drawing,” Yuta said. “Not to knock on a third graders skills but it’s not a particularly realistic one either.”

“That’s me, two days ago,” Jaehyun informed Yuta. Something twisted in his stomach as he said it aloud, putting his wired thoughts out there. “This is me,” He points at the figure on a cloth. “This is the rabbit I fed.” Jaehyun pointed at a cartoonish bunny. Finally, he pointed at the figure in between the trees, watching him. “I don’t know what this is.”

Jaehyun saw Yuta’s jaw clench, saw his grip on the paper tighten before loosening again.

“Don’t let the small town quiet fool you, Jaehyun-ah,” Yuta said softly. “It can be as dangerous out here as in an alleyway in the wrong side of the city.”

“How did this girl know to draw this?” Jaehyun mused. “How did she see something I didn’t?”

When he was greeted with silence, Jaehyun shook his head with a laugh.

“I’m just being paranoid. It’s this weather,” Jaehyun looked up at the cloudy skies. “Playing tricks on my mind.”

“I don’t think so,” Yuta said slowly. Jaehyun tilted his head at him in confusion. “If your gut is telling you something is wrong, don’t dismiss that.”

“Something felt wrong for a moment before Ten showed up,” Jaehyun admitted. “I don’t know what, though.”

“There’s something in you,” Yuta said distantly. “Even if you don’t believe in something, you know when you’re in danger. Human evolution. You can feel a predator.”

“Perhaps,” Jaehyun allowed. “No more picnics, I guess.”

“Hardly,” Yuta said with a grin, easing the tension. “No more picnics _alone_. Certainly not that far off near the woods. I’d be happy to accompany you if you want. I go hiking a lot, I know the best trails.”

“How do I know _you_ won’t lure me into those woods and kill me?” Jaehyun teased without any weight to his words. “Maybe you’re the predator. ”

Yuta’s smile stayed on his face but something in his eyes shifted as he looked at Jaehyun.

“Do you feel that way?” Yuta asked. Jaehyun looked back into the bright, warm eyes.

“No,” Jaehyun said resolutely. “No, I don’t.”

\- 

_kookie_  
brooooo  
mingyu keeps coming to our gym dates with baked stuff  
bro  
i have no self restraint

_You_  
oh my god  
what have u done

_kookie_  
[picture attached]  
oops

Jaehyun laughed at the picture that was sent, Jungkook’s cheeks stuffed with a cupcake, frosting on his nose. He showed the picture to Kun beside him, who – despite not knowing Jungkook the least bit – laughed along with Jaehyun. 

“Hey,” Kun said after a few moments and Jaehyun turned to look at him. “How’re you doing? Settling in okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jaehyun replied in mild confusion. The disconcerting picnic had been over a week ago and nothing particularly strange had happened since. Perhaps because he seemed to have a chaperone to nearly everywhere; if it wasn’t Johnny or Ten, it was Yuta or even occasionally Taeyong. Jaehyun didn’t mind. He enjoyed the company.

“Would it be weird if I gave you something?” Kun asked. Jaehyun narrowed his eyes at him.

“Is it a weird thing?” Jaehyun asked slowly. Kun seemed like a good guy, the best guy who let Jaehyun eat his food without complaint, even fondly ruffling his hair.

“Here,” Kun handed Jaehyun what looked like a regular jewellery box. When Jaehyun snapped it open, he found a delicate necklace inside, the blue pendant small and not flashy in the least.

“What’s this?” Jaehyun asked, picking it up.

“It’s – well. It’s a gift,” Kun said with a soft smile. “It’s for protection.”

“Protection?” Jaehyun asked sceptically.

“You don’t have to believe in it,” Kun said with a laugh. “Only I do.”

Jaehyun didn’t know how a pretty blue pendant would protect him but he grinned at Kun anyway, putting it on immediately.

“Thank you,” Jaehyun said genuinely. He might not believe whatever Kun seemed to believe but the gesture still meant a lot to him. Kun had known Jaehyun for barely over a month but he took care of Jaehyun. Jaehyun would be foolish to not be grateful.

“Did you put a spell on it ?” Jaehyun asked jokingly, thinking back to the card tricks Kun had shown him. Kun laughed but Jaehyun felt like the melodious laughter held more than Kun let on.

-

“You know,” Kimoon said mildly. It was recess and the little boy had failed to do his homework for the third time that week so he was staying in and completing as much as he could with Jaehyun’s help. “My neighbour’s a vampire.”

“Oh, really?” Jaehyun indulged the boy, who was probably bored out of his mind working on those math equations.

“Yeah,” Kimoon said enthusiastically, putting down his pencil. “You know the old lookin’ house on 18th street?”

“I can’t say I do,” Jaehyun said, nudging the pencil to make Kimoon pick it up again, which the child did.

“You do!” Kimoon insisted. “I saw you talkin’ to Mr Kim at his house one day!”

“Kim?” Jaehyun was confused. He didn’t know any Kim’s here in this town, certainly not any whose house had visited.

“Dark hair,” Kimoon said, ruffling his own hair. “Has a really cool car! The coach’s husband!”

“Doyoung?” Jaehyun asked and Kimoon huffed overdramatically.

“Well, _I_ can’t call him that,” Kimoon said. “But yeah. He’s a vampire. So is Coach-nim, probably.”

“Is he now?” Jaehyun grinned at the boy who had dropped his pencil again. “Did they tell you this or was this something you figured out all on your own?”

“Everyone knows,” Kimoon told Jaehyun, sighing deeply when Jaehyun handed him his pencil again. “You can ask anyone. I wonder if vampires have to do math.”

“For longer than humans do,” Jaehyun said gently and Kimoon’s eyes widened.

“You’re right,” Kimoon said fervently. Jaehyun laughed and went back to correcting a recent quiz.

Yuta, a vampire. Jaehyun had to laugh. Yuta was the opposite of every image of a vampire Jaehyun had in his head, bright and bubbly, emotional as he wore his heart on his sleeve. Bleached blonde hair and clothes without zippers. Doyoung, Jaehyun could entertain _that_ idea. But the Yuta that had run around the field chasing after a cat? Utterly ridiculous.

“You will not believe what this kid told me today,” Jaehyun told Taeyong as he signed out for the day.

“Do tell,” Taeyong said, amused.

“Apparently, Doyoung and Yuta are vampires,” Jaehyun said with a roll of his eyes. Taeyong laughed along with him, though he seemed slightly hysterical.

“Yuta, a vampire?” Taeyong said. “Hilarious.”

“I know, right?” Jaehyun nodded. “I don’t know what it is with the people of this town and the occult but that’s just ridiculous, right?”

“Right,” Taeyong said but his voice was soft and when Jaehyun looked at him, he seemed to be staring off into the distance.

“Anyway,” Jaehyun said. “I’m heading home.”

“Oh,” Taeyong sat up, looking back. “I think Johnny already left.”

“I know,” Jaehyun assured Taeyong. “I know the way back. I’m hoping Johnny and Ten are done when I get back.”

“Are you sure?” Taeyong asked, frowning. “I can drop you home if you want to wait half an hour.”

“Nah,” Jaehyun smiled. “I’m beat. Thanks, though.”

“Alright,” Taeyong still seemed hesitant but he waved Jaehyun away.

Jaehyun _did_ know the way. He had been living there for over a month and a half at that point and while he didn’t know everything down to a T, he knew the way home. Johnny didn’t live far from the school, which was one of the reasons Jaehyun was put up as a tenant there.

As he made his way to the street, he saw a familiar car with a familiar figure leaning against it.

He supposed, if anyone he knew would be a vampire, it would be Doyoung. Well, and Minghao. But right then, it would be Doyoung, with his dark hair and pale skin, the aloof way he held himself, the way he seemed so in tune with the world around him that he turned to look at Jaehyun mere moments after Jaehyun laid his eyes on him. Jaehyun’s feet took him to Doyoung before his brain even registered it.

“Hey,” Doyoung’s voice was soft, sounding tired. He had his sunglasses pushed up into his hair and even his eyes seemed red. “How’re you doing?”

“I’m good,” Jaehyun said. “How are _you_?”

“I’m fine,” Doyoung said with a fake smile. Jaehyun didn’t know when he learned to decipher Doyoung’s fake smiles from his real ones, he only knew that it made him unhappy to have them directed at him.

“Liar,” Jaehyun blurted out, his ears heating up when he saw Doyoung look at him in alarm at the call out. Jaehyun decided to commit to it. “You look exhausted.”

“I look immaculate,” Doyoung said primly.

“You look like if you close your eyes, you’re going to fall asleep,” Jaehyun pointed out.

“I –” Doyoung rubbed his eyes, sighing. “I’ve been away for a couple of days. I just got back from a five hour drive after finishing a really big case. Yeah, I’m exhausted.”

Jaehyun couldn’t respond because Yuta arrived but he didn’t look any better either.

“Hey, you,” Yuta grinned but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Waiting on Johnny?”

“Johnny’s left,” Jaehyun said. “I’m walking home.”

“Alone?” Yuta said with a frown. Jaehyun laughed.

“Why does everyone say that?” Jaehyun wondered. “I’m a grown ass man.”

“We can drop you off,” Doyoung said. “Hop in.”

Jaehyun looked at the two dubiously.

“No offence,” Jaehyun said. “But I don’t think either of you is in any position to be driving.”

Doyoung opened his mouth to argue but closed it and looked back at the car.

“You want to take the wheel?” Doyoung asked Jaehyun. Jaehyun froze, blinking at Doyoung. The wheel was that of a Cadillac, black and sleek. Jaehyun had never driven anything beyond a Nissan Patrol.

“Are you sure?” Jaehyun asked but he was itching to get behind the luxurious wheel. Doyoung nodded, opening the passenger seat for Yuta and closing it before letting himself into the back.

Jaehyun couldn’t help the boyish grin that took over his face when he sat at the driver’s seat with his hand on the wheel, childlike excitement taking over as he felt the purr of the engine under his foot.

“I don’t know you were a car person,” Yuta said, turning to look at Jaehyun fondly.

“I’m not, really,” Jaehyun said, running a revenant hand over the gear stick. “Some cars are just really cool, no matter what.”

“I’m glad you approve of my choice,” Doyoung called out from the backseat. When Jaehyun looked back, Doyoung had sprawled himself all over the back, laying down easily. “Yuta gave me hell for it. He wanted a Porsche.”

“I am a tiny man who wants a tiny car,” Yuta said simply.

“That’s not what you were saying last week in the backseat,” Doyoung shot back before realizing what he said. “It’s, uh. Very spacious.”

“I’m sure,” Jaehyun said with a grin and pulled out of the parking spot with ease.

The ride back was filled with light conversation. Doyoung’s responses were short but that was mainly because he seemingly kept dozing off. Jaehyun drove carefully, making sure the car didn’t jostle too much. Before long, he was pulling up in front of the dark house. As he got out of the car, he saw the cat laying on a pillar beside the gate, watching them lazily.

“Do you need help?” Jaehyun asked Yuta, who had pulled Doyoung onto his back.

“Nope,” Yuta said cheerfully and in truth, he didn’t seem particularly bothered by the weight. “Could you get the doors, though?”

Jaehyun took the keys from Yuta, opening the front gate and then the front door. He didn’t have much time to look around as he followed Yuta up the stairs and opened the door of the room Yuta gestured to.

As Yuta flopped Doyoung on the bed, Jaehyun looked around. The room was dark, even the electric lighting set to dim as dark curtains kept the meagre sunlight out. The room itself was spacious and airy, though, high walls and elegant but minimal furniture. Jaehyun could see the vanity, where Yuta’s accessories sparkled as they caught Jaehyun’s eye.

“Thanks for driving,” Doyoung said softly and Jaehyun looked at him and smiled.

“Get some rest,” Jaehyun said, turning to leave.

“Hey,” Doyoung called out and Jaehyun turned. “Take the car.”

“What?” Jaehyun asked.

“Take the car back home,” Yuta picked up, walking over to him. “We’ll come to pick it up later.”

“Are you sure?” Jaehyun asked. In all honesty, he didn’t feel like walking all the way back to Johnny’s place.

“Of course,” Yuta smiled, placing a hand on the small of Jaehyun’s back and guiding him out, outside the room and outside the house as the cat walked inside like it owned the place. Yuta stopped at the door, grinning when Jaehyun turned to look at him.

“Thanks, really.” Yuta’s eyes fell to Jaehyun’s neck and then in between his clavicle where Kun’s pendant lay. Yuta reached out a hand, fingers grazing the pendant and lighting up Jaehyun’s skin when his cool fingers brushed against it. Yuta smiled contently. “Take care.”

\- 

Jaehyun had gotten used to Ten’s presence alarmingly quickly for someone he didn’t see on a regular basis. He wasn’t entirely sure what Ten’s job was; when asked, Ten had simply stated that he danced, that he was in between gigs. Yet, he didn’t seem like a struggling artist, comfortable in his skin in a way Jaehyun envied a little bit. Jaehyun no longer screamed when he walked into rooms in the house and found Ten lounging there.

He did, however, let out a surprised hum when he saw _Kun_ and another stranger with Ten in the living room one Friday. Johnny looked with Jaehyun walked in.

“Hey, dude,” Johnny said sheepishly. “They kinda just showed up.”

“It’s fine,” Jaehyun said with a small laugh. Despite Jaehyun only being Johnny guest, Johnny treated him like a proper housemate, informing him when he had friends over and asked him for his groceries list. “It’s your house.”

“Don’t say that,” Ten said. “You’ll wound him.”

Johnny’s puppy eyes at the statement told Jaehyun he already had.

“Come, sit with us,” Ten said, patting his lap. Jaehyun raised at eyebrow at that and Ten gave him a grin. “Both my sides are taken.”

“I think I can bear to be away from you,” Jaehyun said drily as he came to sit on an armchair.

“You don’t have to sit with us,” Johnny said earnestly and Ten swatted him.

“Yes, he does,” Ten insisted. “He needs to stop being antisocial.”

“I’m not antisocial,” Jaehyun protested. He had _friends_.

“Name one person you actually hang out with that aren’t the vampires on 18th street,” Ten challenged, whining when Kun elbowed him. “Doyoung is my sworn enemy, you know.”

“Your sworn enemy is a vampire?” Jaehyun teased, playing along. Ever since Jaehyun had mentioned it to Taeyong, the news seemed to spread amongst the group like wildfire and they seemed to be happy to constantly bring it up. “That can be dangerous.”

“I’m dangerous too!” Ten proclaimed. The man whose name Jaehyun didn’t know snorted and Jaehyun’s gaze fell on him.

“You’re just a little kitty, Ten,” The man said in amusement.

“Don’t make me claw your eyes out, old man,” Ten shot back, muttering something about hags under his breath.

“I’m Taeil,” The man told Jaehyun, waving with both hands.

“Jaehyun,” Jaehyun said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m not an old hag,” Taeil informed Jaehyun seriously. “Just a bit older than this lot.”

“Do you live around here?” Jaehyun asked curiously. He had never seen Taeil around before and Jaehyun was sure he’d seen at least Johnny entire friend circle in town.

“I have a house here,” Taeil said. “But I travel a lot so I’m never really there.”

“Oh? What do you do?”

“I’m a doctor,” Taeil said.

“Of medicine?” Jaehyun asked automatically before wincing. 

“Yes,” Taeil’s voice was dripping mirth. “Of medicine.”

“Sorry,” Jaehyun rushed to say. “My friend’s got a PhD in dramaturgy and keeps telling people he’s a doctor.”

“He’s not wrong,” Kun said. “He does have a doctorate.”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun trailed off.

“So, you _do_ have friends,” Ten said.

“Of course, I have friends,” Jaehyun replied. Sure, he didn’t have the same kind of friendliness that seemed innate in the people of this small town but that was just his nurture, he’d grown up in the city, it wasn’t his instinct to smile at people. He brushed against hundreds of people on the daily and he knew about four of them.

“You never talk about them,” Kun said and Jaehyun paused, biting his lip. That much was true.

“He speaks about them sometimes,” Johnny intercepts. “You guys just don’t spend a lot of time with him. He’s talked about Sicheng and Seokmin.”

“The bunny,” Kun mused.

“Jungkook,” Jaehyun offered. “I guess I don’t but – yeah, I don’t know.”

“It’s fine,” Johnny reassured him. “Stop ganging up on him, you guys.”

Despite the scrunching of Ten’s nose, they seemed to comply and they fell into easier conversation. It was nice once Jaehyun got comfortable and it wasn’t long before he felt content in their presence. Kun and Taeil weren’t as loud as Yuta and Taeyong were but they were just as lively and friendly, never making Jaehyun feel out of place, always willing to pause and give Jaehyun context for something they were talking about that would have flown over his head otherwise. It was something he deeply appreciated and once they left with Ten in tow, Jaehyun still felt warm and fuzzy.

The feeling reminded him that he was, in essence, a social animal and even as he had gotten used to not having his usual friends around physically, he had reserved himself from finding people to replace them. It wasn’t always easy for Jaehyun to make friends; sure, he was friendly and he could be charming. But to him, _friendship_ required more than that and having gone to highschool, university and embarked on his young adult and adult life with pretty much the same core people, Jaehyun knew he didn’t make as much of an effort to befriend people as others did.

It wasn’t that he was antisocial, he was just content with the people that he had. He had gone to the same high school as Seokmin, Mingyu and Jihyo, met Minghao, Sicheng and Jungkook in university, buddied up to Yugeom and Lisa at his part time job and made BamBam his work friend when he worked at a tutoring centre for a bit. He was comfortable with the people he had, had always felt making new friendships – especially in adulthood – too much effort.

But friendship with Johnny and his friends, Yuta, Doyoung, they didn’t seem to require much effort. They waltzed into his life and made themselves a home there easily, knowingly.

“Hey,” Johnny said, drawing Jaehyun out of his thoughts. “I’m sorry about them. Ten doesn’t know when to let something go.”

“It’s fine,” Jaehyun said in surprise. In his experience, Ten was observant – he seemed to know exactly how far he could push someone and knew when to back away. “It’s not like I have this secret life back in the city.”

“We’ve all known each other for a long time,” Johnny explained as he started clearing up their plates and cups. “You seem to fit into the friend group so easily, they don’t seem to realize you’re still getting used to this life.”

“It’s alright,” Jaehyun laughed. “I like being challenged.”

“Is that why you like Yuta so much ?” Johnny teased and Jaehyun’s words caught in his throat as he fruitlessly tried to deny it. Johnny didn’t seem particularly offended at the notion that Jaehyun might have a crush on the coach, instead snickering at Jahyun. “I’m not blind.”

“I – it’s not like that,” Jaehyun said weakly but he knew he was turning red. “He’s _married_.”

“Yeah, but he’s married to _Doyoung_,” Johnny said.

“What does that mean?” Jaehyun said with a frown. He wasn’t sure he liked Johnny’s tone. Doyoung seemed like a great guy, someone Yuta adored, someone kind and caring. “Doyoung’s – he seems cool.”

“No, he is,” Johnny nodded. “I didn’t mean it like that, I just mean – you know what, I don’t think it’s my place to say.”

“What does _that_ mean?” Jaehyun repeated.

“Just – I don’t think Doyoung would _mind_, you know,” Johnny said mildly. “If you were into Yuta.”

Jaehyun couldn’t entirely process the words, at least not instantly. He was still thinking about it when Johnny patted his back comfortingly and told him he was going to go shower.

Doyoung wouldn’t _mind_? Who in their right mind would have _Yuta_ and wouldn’t _mind_ if someone – no. It was fine. Johnny probably meant that Doyoung knew other people were into Yuta, he wasn’t blind, after all. And it was _Yuta_. Jaehyun imagined it was hard to not find the smaller man endearing, to not have his smile make someone’s heart race. Johnny probably meant that Doyoung was used to it, used to having people get dumb crushes on his ridiculously beautiful husband.

Yes, Jaehyun convinced himself. That was probably it. 

-

Something was slid to him across the table. Jaehyun looked up to see Yuta beaming down at him.

“What’s this?” Jaehyun asked, picking up the thick envelope. It was hefty like it was made of good quality paper, with a red ribbon tying the front closed.

“An invitation,” Yuta said, settling opposite Jaehyun. “Doyoung insisted on the stationary.”

Jaehyun opened the envelope to reveal a thick, textured paper with fancy font on it.

_You are invited to the home of_

** _Nakamoto Yuta & Kim Dongyoung_ **

_for dinner on_

** _Thursday, the 28th_ **

** _7 P.M._ **

_Please contact the following number to discuss dietary restrictions:_

**_051 – 127 – 1995_**

“You could have just told me,” Jaehyun said but he was grinning.

“That’s what I told him but I think this was his sneaky way of giving you his number,” Yuta said nonchalantly.

“Dongyoung, huh?” Jaehyun said instead of addressing whatever the fuck Yuta was implying. It was nothing. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Yuta smiled affectionately. “Kim Dongyoung. He sounds like a fucking nerd.”

“Isn’t he?” Jaehyun asked. He didn’t know Doyoung as well as Yuta.

“Absolutely,” Yuta said. “I mean, he bought expensive stationery just to invite someone over and calligraphed it himself.”

“He did?” Jaehyun took a closer look at the letter, fingertips brushing against the neat letters written in stunning stokes, an involuntary smile blooming on his lips.

“Don’t forget to text him,” Yuta said, getting up. “Not only would he be wounded, but he’ll also panic while cooking everything under the blue sky.”

Jaehyun nodded, already taking out his phone and dialling the number in, saving it. It was only then that Jaehyun realized he didn’t have _Yuta’s_ number. But by the time he looked up, Yuta was gone.

-

“You’re going into the vampire's lair?” Sicheng’s voice was muffled with mirth and Jaehyun sighed, rolling his cart to a stop in front of some cereal. He’d stolen the grocery list from Johnny and added a whole bunch of new ingredients and took on the chore of grocery shopping for the week.

“I regret telling you that,” Jaehyun said, rolling his eyes. “It’s just a rumour. Like a town’s inside joke.”

“What if they’re using the whole ‘inside joke’ thing as a façade and they’re _actually_ vampires and the towns people are playing along because they’re going to sacrifice you, an outsider, to them so they don’t prey on the actual townspeople?” Sicheng mused. “Minghao agrees with me.”

“You _and Minghao_ need to stop watching so many fantasy dramas,” Jaehyun complained. “I didn’t call you for you to tell me I’m going to die at the hands of a couple of vampires in two days.”

“Why _did_ you call us then?” Minghao’s voice could be heard and Jaehyun was sure he was on speaker.

“Can’t a guy miss his friends?” Jaehyun said lightly. There was a beat of silence then the sound of the phone dropping and distant hysterical laughter. Jaehyun huffed, crossing his arms but unable to stop his own smile from spreading. Throwing Johnny’s proclaimed favourite brand of cereal into the cart, Jaehyun moved forward.

“Good one, Jae,” Minghao said breathlessly. “Mr Ghosts Us In The Group Chat _misses_ us.”

“I could make up not texting back to actually _meeting_ you guys,” Jaehyun defended himself. “Now I can’t.”

“Awww,” Sicheng’s voice was exaggerated like he was talking to an infant. “Does Jaehyunie want us to come down next weekend because he misses us so?”

“That would be nice,” Jaehyun admitted. “You could meet my new friends.”

“I’m so proud of you,” Minghao said completely seriously. “Of course, we’ll come down to meet your new friends.”

“Speaking of your _new friends_,” Sicheng said slyly and Jaehyun braced himself. “How are things going with your crush?”

“I do not have a crush, Sicheng,” Jaehyun said feebly.

“He does,” Sicheng told Minghao conspiratorially. “It’s always Yuta _this_ and Yuta _that_ and did you know Yuta has a really pretty smile and that –”

“Yuta is _married_,” Jaehyun spoke over Sicheng loudly.

“He’s married to a vampire,” Sicheng said dismissively. “I’m sure they’re chill with this kind of thing. Just give them a pint of your blood.” 

“Doyoung isn’t – you know what, fuck you, this isn’t even what I called you assholes for,” Jaehyun complained. “I don’t miss you.”

“Uh-uh,” Minghao sang. “No take backsies. I’ve already told everyone in the group chat. Lisa called me a bold-faced liar; I’m fighting her right now.”

Jaehyun had no doubt he’d receive a blizzard of calls and texts from all the members of his friend group once the news reached them all. Why hadn’t _they_ been called? Didn’t he miss _them_? Rude. Hurtful. They would be absolutely _wounded_.

“I gotta go,” Jaehyun said. “I need to have a moment with vegetables and fruits.”

“Ah, yes,” Sicheng snorted. “Are you really going to do your weird ritual of making sure each product is nice and ripe in a new town? You want to be seen as a weirdo?”

“I’m _diligent_,” Jaehyun said loftily, knowing Sicheng didn’t know the difference between ripe and unripe on a cucumber. “You know checking your veggies before you buying them instead of just throwing a bunch into a bag is normal, right?”

“My boyfriend can afford prepackaged produce where the market makes sure it’s ripe for me,” Sicheng shot back.

“He’s only in it for your money, Hao,” Jaehyun warned the other man on the line.

“I know,” Minghao said far too fondly for someone who was enamoured with someone who couldn’t even make eggs properly. Jaehyun understood, though. Sicheng was endlessly endearing; he _tried_, had asked Jaehyun to teach him how to cook at least a basic breakfast when he started staying over at Minghao’s place. It was just mutually agreed that Sicheng should just trust his instincts and not handle the creation of edible food.

“Hello, Jaehyun,” A voice, not from the airpod in his ear, said and Jaehyun nearly dropped the melon he was holding. When he whipped around, he saw Doyoung looking at him in amusement.

“Oh, hey,” Jaehyun said, voice high pitched.

“What?” Sicheng replied in confusion in his ear.

“Nothing, gotta go, love you, bye,” Jaehyun said quickly, ending the call before looking at Doyoung. “Um, I was on the phone.”

“I know,” Doyoung said, the mirth not leaving his voice. “You didn’t have to hang up.”

“I was going to anyway,” Jaehyun said, holding up his melon. “I need to focus and make sure the produce is good to go.”

“That one isn’t,” Doyoung said, just as Jaehyun sniffed it. Jaehyun frowned. It _smelled_ fine.

“It smells fine,” He told Doyoung, who rolled his eyes at him.

“It’s overly ripe,” Doyoung told him. “It won’t last long enough.”

Jaehyun blinked at the other man, unsure of how to respond. Sure, he could put aside the melon, smile and pick another one. He could ask Doyoung for advice for which melon he thought was ripe; after all, Jaehyun was not the master of knowing when fruits were ripe, he was just very good at it.

Except Jaehyun _did_ know when fruits were ripe and he didn’t know Doyoung’s produce ripeness detection credentials and it was very, very hard for him to back down.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Jaehyun said, putting the melon into a bag and then into his cart.

“Have fun eating melon for a night before it goes bad,” Doyoung shot back. Jaehyun scrunched his nose at him, tamping down the urge to stick out his tongue as well. He was an _adult_, thank you very much. “You never called regarding your dietary restrictions so I’m getting everything.”

Only then did Jaehyun look down properly at Doyoung’s cart, which was only half filled but with a diversity of items that Jaehyun had assumed Doyoung for doing his monthly groceries.

“I was going to text tomorrow,” Jaehyun said. “Please tell me that’s, like, your usual haul.”

“Nope,” Doyoung said, leaning on the cart and popping the P. “This is special for you. Yuta and I follow a very specific diet.”

“Which is?” Jaehyun asked curiously.

“Obscure,” Doyoung said vaguely. “There’s no real name for it. Now that I happened upon you on the produce aisle of our local grocery store, maybe you can tell me your dietary restrictions.”

“_Happened upon you_,” Jaehyun repeated. “You make it sound so devious.”

“Occupational hazards,” Doyoung explained. “You start speaking like that, I suppose.”

“Hm, vampire lawyer,” Jaehyun said under his breath. But Doyoung seemed to have heard it anyway and looked at him oddly.

“What did you say?” Doyoung asked but he didn’t seem offended, only mildly surprised.

“Um,” Heat flushed to Jaehyun’s ears and neck without permission. “It’s just this – Your neighbour’s kid is my student and he told me you’re a vampire.”

A beat of silence, and then –

Doyoung’s laughter was hitched and high pitched but incredibly infectious, making Jaehyun grin before he could really stop himself at Doyoung doubled over his cart, trying to catch his breath. When he looked up, trying to find his breath as he grinned at Jaehyun, eye’s bright, Jaehyun understood why Yuta married him. It was an odd thought to have so Jaehyun tried to ignore it but he couldn’t stop himself from _looking_ at Doyoung.

“Do you think I’m a vampire?” Doyoung asked breathlessly.

“I don’t believe in vampires,” Jaehyun said automatically, as he did anything his beliefs in the supernatural were questioned. But Jaehyun paused for a moment, thinking about it. “But I suppose if vampires moved anywhere, it would be a town like this.”

“Twilight got some things right,” Doyoung nodded.

“Do you sparkle?” Jaehyun asked with his flimsy attempt at a straight face.

“I guess that’s for you to find out,” Doyoung replied and it almost sounded flirtatious. “I’ll let you in on some vampiric lore if you help me eliminate some stuff from this cart.”

Jaehyun looked at the cart and he immediately catalogued things that weren’t to his liking and also that just completely baffled him. He looked back up with a grin.

“Sure,” He said. “What exactly were you planning on making with pomegranates and canned tuna?”

He ended up getting back home later than expected, leaving Johnny worried. Johnny’s frown cleared up when Jaehyun told him he was with Doyoung and he grinned knowingly at Jaehyun. Jaehyun didn’t know what Johnny knew so he ignored him, letting Johnny and Ten walk around the kitchen and pantry and put away the groceries, taking out _the_ melon.

Cutting it open and seeing its state from the inside should have been a crushing blow to Jaehyun. Doyoung was _right_. It was infuriating. And yet, for some odd reason, it made Jaehyun laugh.

-

“I’m not wearing that,” Jaehyun said firmly. Johnny pouted at him, looking up at him with puppy eyes until Jaehyun had to look away before he gave in. “Johnny, _no_.”

“Ten agrees!” Johnny pointed out.

“Ten has the fashion sense of a five year old jock and I admire that,” Jaehyun said. “But he is also your boyfriend and will agree to most things you say if you pout at him enough.”

“I, from the bottom of my heart, think you should wear the skimpy shirt,” Ten said from his perch on top of the bookshelf. Jaehyun wasn’t entirely sure how Ten got up there and he thought it best not to ask.

The shirt in question was something Jaehyun would never wear, at least on its own like Johnny was insisting. It was a deep wine colour with a plunging neckline, a light sweater like material that hugged it body. It also exposed too much of him and he quickly shucked it off, opting for a simple black button down, leaving two buttons open and tucking it into slim, dark washed jeans. 

It wasn’t the sleekest look, Jaehyun knew, but he was comfortable in it and that was important. He was going on a house visit anyway so it was unlikely he would be underdressed. If he was, well – that was a problem for future Jaehyun.

“Are you sure you don’t want us to drive you?” Johnny asked at the door as Jaehyun put on his shoes. He was tugging his bottom lip worriedly in between his teeth.

“It’s just a 20 minute walk away,” Jaehyun said.

“It’s going to be dark out,” Johnny pointed out and Jaehyun looked at him, unimpressed.

“I’m a grown man,” Jaehyun reminded him. “You lot are real worried for residents of a town with a minimal crime rate.”

“Just being cautious,” Johnny said vaguely. Jaehyun let it go as he put on a jacket and walked out the door, bidding Johnny and Ten goodbye.

“Bye,” Ten waved dramatically. “Be safe! Use condoms!”

Jaehyun turned and Johnny quickly ushered his boyfriend into the house and closed the door. Jaehyun shook his head and continued on his way.

He had originally planned on just listening to music or a podcast on the walk but the music fell into the background as Ten’s words came back to him, as well as Johnny’s earlier. He wasn’t sure why they were teasing him about his crush, why they were using such phrasing as to suggest he actually had a chance. He didn’t take them for malicious people, knew they wouldn’t encourage homewrecking. It was hard, though, to get all his thoughts to focus and lead him to a single epiphany. Johnny and Ten had known Doyoung and Yuta for longer than Jaehyun did, _way_ longer. 

Jaehyun shook the thoughts out of his head as he approached the house. In the twilight, it looked far more imposing than it had in daylight, the gate creaking slightly as Jaehyun pushed it open. Something in him was cautious but another force was gravitating towards the challenge, the unknown. He wasn’t sure what it was but something told him this wasn’t the usual dinner get together but the prospect thrilled him.

The door swung open and Yuta grinned at him, brightening everything up immediately.

“Hello,” Yuta said. “Come in! Doyoung sent me to get you while he freaks out over the food.”

“Why is he still freaking out?” Jaehyun asked, stepping in. “We talked about this.”

“You get used to it,” Yuta shrugged, leading the way.

The house wasn’t dimly lit but the lightning wasn’t harsh, illuminating their surroundings without throwing things into stark contrast. There were soft shadows but no dark corners. It was comfortable – almost intimate.

“You guys really don’t like the light, huh,” Jaehyun said as he stepped into the living room. “Moving to a town like this and keeping your house like this on top of that.”

“Ah,” Yuta smiled. “Things are so much more fun in the dark, though.” It was accompanied by a wink that Jaehyun wasn’t sure how to respond to but it still tugged a smile out of him.

“Stop flirting with our guest and help me,” Doyoung’s voice came as he entered the room with a steaming dish in hand. Yuta didn’t refute Doyoung’s statement, only laughing and going over to his husband to take the dish from his hands and placing it on the table. “Come, Jaehyun. Sit.”

Jaehyun followed, sitting on the chair Yuta had taken out for him. The table seated more than half a dozen people but Jaehyun wasn’t surprised by that. He knew the rest of his friends here visited often and the table seemed well used. The candles were lit and they cast a flickering shadow over Doyoung’s face as he turned to Yuta and told him to bring the rest of the things from the kitchen. Yuta scrunched his nose but nodded, leaning in for a peck of a kiss before leaving Doyoung and Jaehyun alone.

“You have a nice house,” Jaehyun said, partially because it was true and mainly because it was polite.

“Does the overgrown hedge charm you?” Doyoung asked drily. “The antique furniture?”

“They’re certainly,” Jaehyun tried to find the nicest word. “Stylistic choices.”

“It’s our fault,” Yuta admitted as he entered the room with a bigger dish, as though he had been part of the conversation all along. “We left it unmaintained for a few years in between and when we came back and decided to redo it, we got stuck on the logistics.”

“We’re not stuck on the logistics,” Doyoung countered. “It’s just _someone_ can’t decide and we always end up giving up.”

“You’re guilty of that too, baby,” Yuta shot back, sitting beside them both at the head of the table. He turned to Jaehyun. “We can both be so stubborn sometimes.”

“I fight for what I believe in,” Doyoung responded.

“He doesn’t believe in shaped hedges,” Yuta told Jaehyun. “It goes against his morality, apparently.”

“It won’t be maintained and it’ll grow out weird,” Doyoung insisted. He pushed the main dish towards Jaehyun. “Eat.”

“Doyoung hasn’t cooked in forever,” Yuta said as he took Jaehyun’s plate and heaped on food to it. It was flavoured rice and roasted chicken and it smelled amazing. “Feel free to spit it out. I have the delivery app open and ready to go.”

“I followed the recipe to the T,” Doyoung said. There was a pause as they both looked at Jaehyun expectantly and Jaehyun looked back.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Jaehyun finally asked when both made no motion for the food themselves. They seemed momentarily surprised at his question before leaping into action. 

“Right,” Yuta nodded. “Food.”

“We eat,” Doyoung assured Jaehyun helpfully. Their portion was nowhere near Jaehyun’s size but Jaehyun felt like he couldn’t particularly call them out on it. They continued to look at him after they’d put food on their plates, seemingly waiting for him to take the first bite. Jaehyun obliged, popping chicken into his mouth. Yuta followed but Doyoung made no move to eat, instead choosing to watch them both expectantly.

It was good. The chicken was a little overcooked but it wasn’t inedible, well seasoned with crispy skin.

“Wah, Doyoung-ah,” Yuta said after he swallowed his first bite. “This is actually good.”

“Yeah?” Doyoung finally took a bite of his own food and smiled contently. “Nice.”

“I’m proud of you,” Yuta said, patting Doyoung’s arm and Doyoung beamed back. “Jaehyun, what do you think?”

“It’s great,” Jaehyun smiled. “You paid attention.”

“Ah, yes,” Doyoung rolled his eyes. “He gives me a few tips in the grocery store and suddenly thinks it’s because of him that the food turned out good.”

“Of course,” Jaehyun grinned cheekily. “You forgot rice cookers existed.”

“It was a momentary lapse in memory!” Doyoung protested.

The food may have been great but the company was better. The trio stitch several topics into their constant conversation, easy teasing and jokes making their way into the banter as though they’d known each other for aeons. It was nice, friendly; except when Jaehyun would pick up on something.

Jaehyun was neither naïve nor dumb; he would sometimes pretend to be because it was easier to deal with certain people that way and spending so much time around children, it was natural for him to be more childlike in _some_ respects. He wanted the children to feel comfortable while still realizing he was their teacher. He was observant, he just chose not to act upon his observations immediately.

He noticed Yuta’s fingers brushing against his before retracting, Yuta looking momentarily surprised before smiling the expression away. He saw the way Doyoung’s gaze fell to his lips, saw the way his eyes darkened when Jaehyun felt something splatter on his collar and he pulled his shirt away to wipe it away. In any other situation, he would have known what the lingering touches and the implicating smiles meant.

When dinner was over, they moved to the lounge.

“Do you two need this many rooms?” Jaehyun asked. “Have you thought of maybe moving to something smaller?”

“The rooms were for the kids,” Doyoung said before pausing. Jaehyun raised his eyebrows curiously.

“We fostered kids,” Yuta interrupted. “For a few years.”

“Oh,” Jaehyun said, surprised. “Where are they now?”

“We took them in at 15,” Yuta explained. “We all left when they hit 18 and vacationed around Europe. The kids stayed and we came back. We still keep in touch.”

“That’s really nice of you,” Jaehyun said earnestly.

“They’re good kids,” Doyoung said with a shrug. “Annoying fucks but good.”

“He has a favourite,” Yuta mock whispered. “He’s so mean.”

“Who’s the favourite?” Jaehyun asked and Doyoung didn’t even try to defend himself.

“Jeno,” He said immediately. “He’s never done anything wrong in his life ever. He’s in veterinary school right now. An absolute angel.”

“There’s also Jaemin and Jisung,” Yuta said fondly. “Wait, I’ll show you.”

“Jaemin’s really kind,” Doyoung told Jaehyun while Yuta searched for something on the bookshelves. His voice held the same fondness as when he spoke about Jeno and Jaehyun knew he truly cared for all the kids. “Jisung’s eccentric but it’s interesting to watch him grow.”

“How old are they now?” Jaehyun asked. Doyoung looked at him in silence, frozen as though he wasn’t expecting the question.

“Isn’t Doyoung a terrible parent?” Yuta asked and Jaehyun looked up to see him sitting back down on the armchair. “Can’t even remember his foster kids' age.”

“I know how old they are,” Doyoung said. Jaehyun waited but nothing followed.

“Is it a guarded secret?” Jaehyun joked and he got a smile in return.

“Something of the sort,” Yuta said easily, putting a photo album on his lap. “Look.”

The album was open to two pictures. Yuta had darker hair in the picture, a warm brown but Doyoung’s was still ebony. Jaehyun tore his eyes away from the subjects of his interest and looked at the other three.

“This one’s Jaemin, this is Jeno and this is Jisung,” Yuta said, pointing at the respective people.

Jaemin and Jeno seemed like they were young adults, though Jaehyun couldn’t pinpoint an age. If he had to guess, it would be around the ballpark of 18 – 21. Jisung seemed younger, like a teenager, no more than 17 with his still adolescent face.

“So, Yuta’s the shortest,” Jaehyun said. Yuta scowled while Doyoung snickered.

Spending time alone with Yuta and Doyoung wasn’t as awkward as he’d imagined. He knew his fears were unsubstantiated; he got along with Yuta well on a near daily basis and the times he and Doyoung had spent together were good but he’d never spent elongated periods of time with them together and he had a gnawing fear that he would spend the night being the third wheel, since the couple hadn’t invited any of their other mutual friends to the dinner.

He lost track of time in their dimly lit lounge, listening to Doyoung’s rants about his clients or talking to Yuta about the kids in Jaehyun’s class that took soccer or arguing with Doyoung over the superior adaption of Star Trek. His eyes only flickered to the time on his phone when it lit up with a call from Johnny, asking if he was coming home. _If_ he was coming home – the presumption of the man.

“Well, I should get going,” Jaehyun said after he assured Johnny he was and had hung up. “I’ve probably overstayed my welcome.”

“Not at all,” Yuta said earnestly. “I hadn’t even realized it had gotten so late.”

“It is quite late,” Doyoung said, biting into his lip. “How are you getting back?”

“Walking,” Jaehyun said easily. He wasn’t tired as of yet – in fact, he felt electrified and buzzed, borderline restless from the way he’d been looked at for many parts of the night. Physical activity would do him some good.

“We can drive you back,” Yuta said, jumping up with Jaehyun did. Doyoung started to agree but Jaehyun shook his head.

“No, it’s alright, really,” Jaehyun insisted.

“It’s really late,” Doyoung said as he followed them towards the front door. “It’s not safe.”

“This is the sleepiest small town,” Jaehyun said with a laugh. “Even Johnny was being weird.”

“Then maybe you should listen?” Doyoung was unyieldingly firm as he looked at Jaehyun but that only solidified Jaehyun’s need to walk home, get some fresh air. Doyoung with conviction in eyes was a sight to behold. Jaehyun swallowed and shook his head resolutely, turning to Yuta.

“I’d hate to be a bother, making you drive all the way to Johnny’s and back,” Jaehyun said sincerely. “I’ll take my leave now.”

“Take the car then,” Yuta said, reaching for the keys on the hooks behind the door. Jaehyun laughs, shaking his head yet again.

“Please,” Jaehyun said. “It’s fine. I’ll text when I get home, alright?”

They finally conceded, letting him put on his coat and shoes without any further insistences.

“Thanks for having me,” Jaehyun grinned when he was ready to leave. “I had a great time.”

“It was great to have you,” Doyoung replied.

“I’m sorry for oversta–,” When Jaehyun turned to Yuta, he was stopped by an armful of the smaller man as he pulled Jaehyun into a parting hug. This shouldn’t phase Jaehyun, he knew Yuta was a naturally physically affectionate man with all their friends but suddenly having Yuta so close, pressing against him rendered Jaehyun speechless for a moment. Yuta wasn’t warm but the coolness was electrifying, making Jaehyun’s breath hitch. There was an irrational urge to pull Yuta closer, to share his own warmth with him but Yuta pulled away before Jaehyun gave in to his suddenly overwhelming instincts.

The action didn’t help clear his head since Yuta didn’t step away, instead smiling up at Jaehyun. It was hard to look away; the close distance made Jaehyun realize fully how pretty Yuta was. His big bright eyes, the sly smile playing on his lips as he realized Jaehyun was distracted.

“Come back again,” It would have been a perfectly normal thing to say had Yuta not practically purred it while trailing his hand down Jaehyun’s arm. Jaehyun swallowed, nodding and Yuta grinned, stepping back. It was only then Jaehyun turned blazing red, realizing Yuta’s _husband_ was standing right there while Jaehyun was getting flustered over Yuta.

Jaehyun barely looked at Doyoung, bidding him goodbye and thanking him before bolting out the door before he did something stupid. He thought he heard Yuta huff a laugh but he didn’t dare look back.

His escape was foiled, however, when he was halfway to the gate and Doyoung called out to him, making him freeze. Jaehyun hadn’t _done_ anything, that was true, but he knew the way his heart was racing wasn’t _right_. It wasn’t what he should be feeling towards a married man. Married _men_.

When Jaehyun turned, he automatically took a surprised step back when he realized Doyoung was right in front of him. Jaehyun hadn’t heard him come up to him. Yuta was still standing by the door, leaning against it and watching the two in amusement.

“You forgot this,” Doyoung said, holding out his hand which had Jaehyun’s house keys dangling from them. Jaehyun frowned, sure he had them in his pocket but decided not to think too deeply into it, taking the keys quickly.

“Thanks,” Jaehyun mumbled. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before meeting Doyoung’s eyes and smiling. Nothing seemed amiss about Doyoung but he held something in eyes that told Jaehyun he wasn’t as oblivious as Jaehyun hoped, that he knew full well the way Jaehyun’s heart was erratically pumping blood. Despite his scrutinizing eyes, his smile was soft.

“Stay safe,” Doyoung reminded Jaehyun softly. “Call us when you get back.”

“I will,” Jaehyun promised, taking another step back and raising his arm in a wave. “Thanks for the keys. Bye.”

“Bye,” Yuta called out from the door and Jaehyun laughed, giving the two a salute before stepping into the street. When he turned the corner, he looked back to their house still open, evident by the light still emitting from inside. The couple weren’t visible though and Jaehyun finally turned the corner and the house slipped out of sight.

The streets were empty; it _was_ quite late and unlike the city, this small town definitely slept on curfew and took several naps throughout the day. Most of the houses he passed were dark and Jaehyun only had street lamps and the moon for company. Initially, it didn’t bother Jaehyun; he had soft music on and despite the guilt, the lyrics of love made him feel bubbly – the moonlit road felt romantic as the butterflies in his stomach held a rave remembering Yuta’s eyes and the way Doyoung looked at him.

It wasn’t until he was halfway through his journey that Jaehyun felt something odd. He turned his music low and then off completely, suddenly realizing that he wouldn’t notice anyone come up to him if he had music on. He paused and turned, looking around but finding nothing out of the ordinary. He shook himself; the atmosphere of the night was probably getting to him.

But still, something in him was unnerved and it harkened the feeling he had had near the woods the other day; that gut-wrenching feeling of being watched. Only now, he felt _followed_ as well. He still had another 10 minutes to Johnny’s place. He pulled out his phone, contemplating calling someone to occupy himself and make himself feel better but he reconsidered, realizing how he late it was and how everyone was probably asleep, even his friends back in the city. Of course, he knew he could just _wake_ Sicheng up and his presence would be tolerated when Jaehyun told Sicheng of his troubled intuition.

Jaehyun’s heart leapt to his throat when he saw a figure a few feet in front of him. He slowed down, wondering what to do when the figure stepped into the light. Jaehyun felt relief flood his veins.

“Hey, you,” Taeil said, seeming surprised to see Jaehyun. “What’re you doing outside so late?”

“Hey,” Jaehyun replied, his voice low. The night was so quiet, it felt odd to speak up. “I was just walking home from Doyoung and Yuta’s.”

“This late? Alone?” Taeil raised an eyebrow. “Let me walk you. It’s not safe, you know.”

Jaehyun would have disagreed but he remembered the feeling of being watched. He still felt it but he felt better with Taeil around and he wanted to latch on to the comfort the older man was bestowing upon him so he nodded, letting Taeil fall into step with him.

“Taeil hyung,” Jaehyun said after a moment. Taeil hummed, letting Jaehyun know he was listening. “Is there someone out there?”

“What do you mean?” Taeil asked but his voice was measured.

“It’s like –” Jaehyun paused, struggling to find the words to explain. There were instances but there was also an inexplicable feeling. “I looked up this town before I accepted the offer. It has such a low crime rate, mostly stuff like domestic violence and stuff like that – the murder rate is minimal.”

“That’s true,” Taeil nodded. “It’s a quiet town.”

“Then why does everyone seem to get so worried when I leave after dark?” Jaehyun wondered. He wondered if he should mention it but continued anyway. “And I wonder why I sometimes feel like I’m being watched.”

Jaehyun had to look beside him to make sure Taeil was still there, a testament to how quiet Taeil had gotten. When their eyes met, Jaehyun knew Taeil might give him a real answer.

“Let me put it this way,” Taeil said thoughtfully. “This town is safe _because_ it’s a small town; everyone is in everyone’s business, everyone knows each other. It’s pretty tight knit and that prevents – certain things. People are just concerned for you because – well, honestly, you’re the outsider.”

“What does that mean?” Jaehyun frowned.

“I mean no offence,” Taeil replied. “I just mean that you’re not part of that tight knit group – yet, of course. It’s understandable that some might think you are fair game.”

Jaehyun had never thought of it like that and the implications chilled him to the bone. He _understood_ and it was all the horrors of a small town his friends had warned him about.

“That’s terrifying,” Jaehyun said honestly. To his surprise, Taeil laughed and patted him in the back.

“Don’t worry about it too much, kid,” Taeil said fondly. “We’ll make sure nothing happens to you. Just don’t let the small town calm lull you into a false sense of security.”

“Besides,” Taeil continues as they fast approached the only house on the street with the porch lights still on. Jaehyun hoped Johnny hadn’t waited up for him. “You’ve got Doyoung and Yuta.”

“Huh?” Jaehyun turned to look at Taeil in confusion. “What does – wait, I don’t _‘got’ _them.”

“Sure,” Taeil’s tone was disbelieving and dismissive. Jaehyun wanted to argue and probe, understand what Taeil _meant_ but they were finally at the brightly lit porch. Taeil followed Jaehyun to the door. Jaehyun slotted the key into the lock but turned to Taeil before he unlocked the door, smiling gratefully at the older man.

“Thanks for walking with me,” Jaehyun said sincerely. Taeil grinned back. “I hope I didn’t detour you from your path too much.”

“Not at all,” Taeil shrugged and Jaehyun realized he didn’t know what Taeil was even doing out at the ridiculous hour. “I was just taking a walk anyway.”

“Did you feel something strange?” Jaehyun asked because he had to know. The smile slipped off of Taeil’s face as he regarded Jaehyun.

“Be careful, Jaehyun,” He finally said, voice serious. “You don’t know what’s out there.”

“Do you?” Jaehyun inquired but he already knew the answer from the look of Taeil’s face. “You do. What’s out there, Taeil hyung?”

“Aren’t you a sceptic, Jaehyun?” Taeil asked with a small laugh. “Go on in, Johnny’s waiting up for you.”

Jaehyun wanted to argue but he could see that Taeil had given him everything he would that night and he didn’t want to keep Johnny up any longer. He smiled again before unlocking the door and slipping inside. When he turned to close the door and say a final goodbye to Taeil, the shorter man was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the most au part of this au is that jaehyun has friends outside of nct.

Jaehyun had only met the actual Head Mistress of the school a handful times, mostly during his interviews and orientation. She spent most of her days in her office while Johnny was the one who did the out of office work. They worked in tandem and it made the school function efficiently, or at least as smoothly as a school  _ could _ function.

“You’re not in trouble,” Taeyong told Jaehyun as he guided him to the Head Mistress’s office. “Stop being so jittery.”

“I’m not jittery,” Jaehyun lied. Admittedly, he was nervous, having been called to the office after school to speak with Mrs In to discuss undisclosed topics.

Jaehyun had no reason to worry, he knew as he stepped into the office. Mrs In was like a soccer mom on steroids and she deeply cared about the students and their welfare. Despite her passion and drive, she was incredibly kind and she smiled when Jaehyun entered.

“Ah, Mr Jung,” She stood up, gesturing for him to come and sit opposite her. “How are you?”

“I’m well,” Jaehyun said, doing as he was told.

“I’m glad,” She was still smiling softly. “Would you like something to drink? Tea, perhaps?”

“No, thank you,” Jaehyun shook a hand and Mrs In nodded, sitting back down. “How are you?”

“I’m alright,” Mrs In’s smile got a bit strained. “Just trying to secure more funds for our school – you know how it is.”

Jaehyun  _ did _ know how it was. He was infinitely thankful he got his teaching certificate and he didn’t end up in administration work.

“Are there any fund-raising plans?” Jaehyun asked. “I’d be happy to pitch in.”

“That’s very kind of you, Mr Jung,” Mrs In said. “I will let you know once we have a plan for that.”

Jaehyun nodded with a smile. He was unsure what to say next but thankfully, the silence didn’t stretch awkwardly long before Mrs In started speaking again.

“So, Mr Jung – can I call you Jaehyun?” Mrs In asked, laughing when Jaehyun nodded. “You have a nice name. So, Jaehyun. How are you liking it here?”

“It’s great,” Jaehyun answered truthfully. Once he had gotten used to the new kids and the new way of life, he enjoyed himself immensely. It was still a new town for him and he was still discovering so much about it as he explored.

“I’m glad you think so,” Mrs In said warmly. She seemed to hesitate before she continued. “Jaehyun, have you thought about your future?”

“My future?” Jaehyun was more than a little confused.

“Yes,” Mrs In said. “Where do you see yourself in the future?”

Mrs In seemed to be asking seriously and Jaehyun wasn’t entirely sure what to tell her. Truth be told, his reality was different than it had been the last time he had thought about his future and his current living situation was making him biased. Before, he saw himself in teaching in the city, perhaps graduating to be an educator in higher education eventually. Now, he saw himself in this small town as well, continuing to teach his kids, settling into this life.

“I’m not entirely sure what you mean, I’m sorry,” Jaehyun said instead. Mrs In looked at him in contemplation before nodding.

“The truth is,” Mrs In said delicately. “Your transfer period will finish once this semester does in less than two months. I want to know what your plans beyond that are.”

“I’m keeping my options open,” Jaehyun said neutrally. Truthfully, as he got more comfortable, he saw more futures for himself than he originally thought.

“That’s good to hear, Jaehyun,” Mrs In said genuinely. She paused for a moment before continuing, her voice more reserved. “I have a proposition for you.”

Jaehyun tilted his head, gesturing that he was listening.

“Would you consider a promotion to a permanent employee?” Mrs In asked and despite the request not being entirely outlandish, it still stuck Jaehyun with surprise.

“Permanent?”

“Look,” Mrs In sighed. “The position you took over – it wasn’t part of the transfer program. But the teacher suddenly quit and we had no one to fill her position so we thought, rather than send someone out, we could get a teacher until we could find a suitable candidate. You know we like to keep our class sizes small and giving another teacher more workload would have negatively impacted both the students and the teachers, not to mention our reputation. Of course, in the meantime, we’ve been looking for replacements since your contract only lasts the semester. But quite honestly, the children have become enamoured by you and you’re an excellent addition to the faculty. It seems redundant to look elsewhere when our prime candidate is right here.”

Jaehyun blinked at her, at a loss for words. It wasn’t as though he’d never been described at a prime candidate or been offered a permanent position. But it was one thing to take up a long-term job in the city where he’d grown up and another to accept one in which he would have to permanently  _ move _ .

“Of course,” Mrs. In continued. “You would also get a pay raise and better accommodation and such. All your benefits will be emailed to you by today for review.”

Jaehyun nodded slowly.

“You don’t have to give me an answer straight away,” Mrs In said, noticing his hesitation. “Of course, you have to think it over. Be certain this is where you want to be. But at the same time, I must implore you to not take too long. If you’re going to refuse, we’d like to make the appropriate adjustments as soon as possible.”

“How long do I have?” Jaehyun asked.

“I think a month is a good enough period, don’t you?” Mrs In said, raising an eyebrow. Jaehyun thought about it. He didn’t want to rush his decision but he understood some things were time-constrained and well – if he hadn’t reached a decision in a month, he wasn’t meant to be where he was trying to convince himself to stay. Jaehyun nodded and Mrs In beamed fondly at him. “Thank you, Jaehyun. You’re dismissed.”

Jaehyun barely noticed Taeyong on his way out the door. His mind told him to walk across the front courtyard and take a turn but his feet guided him towards the fields. He was staring at the neatly cut grass and pristine bleachers before he even computed where he’d ended up. He looked around until a figure caught his eye. All at once, something eased in his chest even as his heart skipped a beat.

Yuta was lounging on one of the bleachers, leaning back on his elbows, his face turned up towards the one bright spot behind thick clouds, absorbing the sun as it burned behind clouds heavy with rain. It was funny, Jaehyun thought as he started to walk towards the other man. The clouds here always seemed dark with rain but it didn’t actually rain nearly as often as it should. But then again, there were a lot of things strange about this little town.

As Jaehyun stood over Yuta, he realized his eyes were closed and his breathing was slow. He wondered if Yuta was asleep, hoped he wasn’t because it would be utterly ridiculous if Yuta looked this pretty as he slept.

“Are you done staring at me?” Yuta said, his lips tilting upwards when he heard Jaehyun startle backwards. “You’re deft on your feet but you still have heavy footsteps.”

“I don’t think you’ll be able to get a tan around here, chief,” Jaehyun said, sitting down next to Yuta as his eyes flew open. “There’s a beach a few hours drive away, though.”

“I don’t really tan,” Yuta said with a grin. “What brings you here? Shouldn’t you be heading home?”

“Yeah, I was,” Jaehyun floundered, unsure of how to explain that his feet just brought him here, brought him to Yuta. “I had a talk with Mrs In and I guess I got a little disoriented.”

“A talk?” Yuta frowned. “About what?”

“Nothing bad,” Jaehyun assured Yuta. “Actually, um – she offered me a permanent position here.”

“Oh,” Yuta’s face was peculiarly unreadable. “How do you feel about that?”

“I like the idea,” Jaehyun admitted, looking away. “A lot more than I thought I would.”

“Yeah?” Yuta asked.

“Yeah,” Jaehyun sighed. “I like it here, you know. It’s different but it’s something I’ve grown to become comfortable with. There’s something to be said for provincial life, I suppose.”

“There is,” Yuta said earnestly and Jaehyun looked at him with a soft smile. “I know I’m biased because I love nature but as great as city life can be, a place like this to get away from it all is good. Look around!” Yuta threw his arms up, undoubtedly gesturing at the trees and greenery that surrounded them. “Isn’t it cathartic?”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun said, barely flickering a glance at the natural splendour around them, instead letting his gaze fall over the slope of Yuta’s nose, the planes of his cheekbones, the curve of his smile. “It is.”

It was shameless and perhaps he should have looked away before Yuta caught his eye but the twinkle in Yuta’s eye held him hostage.

“Of course,” Yuta continued with a smirk. “There’s us. How could you leave us now that you’ve gotten us all enamoured by you?”

“Yes, that is the tragedy of knowing Jung Jaehyun,” Jaehyun said loftily. “Write me a letter about how hard it is to watch me walk away; I’ll add it to the collection.”

“You know your cockiness and jest only make you more attractive and that’s infuriating,” Yuta said seriously. Jaehyun couldn’t help but smile at the words as he tried his hardest not to take them seriously. “What’re you doing now?”

“Sitting here with you,” Jaehyun stated the obvious and Yuta rolled his eyes.

“I mean, do you have plans? Are you going home?” Yuta inquired.

“I mean – I was but I don’t have any plans in particular,” Jaehyun replied, curious. “Why?”

“Doyoung’s here,” Yuta said, waving his phone. “We’re meant to go look at some furniture. You wanna come with?”

“Oh,” Jaehyun did want to go but – “I don’t want to overstep. Isn’t that like a couples thing?”

“It can be a trio thing,” Yuta said, standing up gracefully. He looked down at Jaehyun fondly, extending a helping hand. “Trust me. Doyoung won’t be mind. In fact, a third option between our stubborn asses would be greatly appreciated.”

It was only with that reasoning that Jaehyun let his hand slip into Yuta’s and let himself be whisked away.

-

Jaehyun soon realized that Yuta wasn’t sugarcoating his and Doyoung’s stubbornness or their contradictory opinions on everything from the design of the lamp for the gate outside to a new chaise.

“I refuse to be a cliché,” Yuta was insisting, crossing his arms and glaring at Doyoung, who was leaning against a display piece of a lamp that looked like an antique, dark and rustic. “We’re done with this aesthetic, Doyoung!”

“This look never goes out of style,” Doyoung countered.

“It’s a bit on the nose, don’t you think?” Yuta scoffed and Jaehyun was lost.

“Jaehyun, what do you think?” Doyoung demanded, turning to Jaehyun.

“Yeah, Jaehyun,” Yuta joined in, frowning.

“Okay, first of all,” Jaehyun said, raising both arms in surrender. “I  _ told _ you two that this was a couple’s decision and you can’t drag me into your fights.”

“Why not?” Yuta whined, throwing his head back and stomping his feet. “Maybe we  _ need _ a third opinion.”

“I think before that, you need to come to a consensus about what you both actually  _ want _ ,” Jaehyun said. “Are you going for the gothic look that Doyoung wants or the minimalistic look that Yuta wants?”

“We’ve  _ done  _ the minimalistic look during the eig – ages ago,” Doyoung huffed. “While open spaces are nice, they lack  _ character _ .”

“We have enough ‘character’,” Yuta threw up finger air quotes. “To make up for it. I would like things that don’t  _ creak _ .”

“What do you think?” Doyoung asked, turning to Jaehyun, holding up a hand when Jaehyun started protesting. “Not about our opinions. About the house? What would you want?”

Well. That changed things. He would shrug, say it didn’t matter what he wanted but Yuta and Doyoung were looking at him expectantly and maybe, just maybe if his answer satisfied them, they’d move on from the fucking outdoor lighting section.

Jaehyun threw another cursory glance over their options but he already knew the one that kept catching his eye. It hadn’t been his first choice but after hearing Doyoung and Yuta go on and on about what they were going for, it seemed like the best choice, the one that  _ fit _ the house and the people that inhabited it.

It was dark, made of metal that was made to look gritty but it didn’t have the ornate gothic design that Doyoung fancied. It still held the vibe, though and it had pretty, delicate engravings on it, swirling roses and thorny vines with gold highlights.

“Minimalist gothic,” Jaehyun said, pointing at his choice with a smile. “You could put a dim light in it to emulate the effect you want.”

Doyoung hummed as he looked at the lamp, deft fingers running through the engraved design.

“What do you think?” Doyoung asked Yuta, who chewed his lip before nodding.

“No flickering candles in there,” Yuta warned.

“It’s electronic, there’s a lamp,” Jaehyun said happily, noting down the product number before they moved along.

“You don’t know him,” Yuta said darkly as Jaehyun ushered him away from the section they had stood at for half an hour. “He’d figure out a way to make it flicker, the fucker.”

“I can hear you,” Doyoung called out from where he was still loitering behind. Jaehyun turned, unsure of how Doyoung heard Yuta’s dark murmurings from so far away but shot him a look anyway. Doyoung soon jogged up to them, ready to contradict Yuta’s choices for lawn chairs.

It was another four hours before they got back in the car, with only half of the exterior of the house done. When Doyoung and Yuta talked about renovation, they meant  _ renovation _ . Despite the long hours filled with banter and walking, Jaehyun didn’t feel too tired as he climbed into the passenger seat of Doyoung’s car. Yuta had already staked his claim on the back seats, flinging himself in as soon as Doyoung had unlocked the car with a click. They had paid to have their furniture delivered tomorrow so the backseat of empty, allowing Yuta all the space he wanted.

“Dinner where?” Doyoung asked absently as he fastened his seatbelt. Jaehyun turned to look at Yuta for an answer but Yuta was already on his phone, seemingly not having heard Doyoung.

“What do you feel like having?” Jaehyun asked Doyoung, who hummed in contemplation.

“I feel like pizza,” Doyoung said decisively after a moment. Jaehyun turned to Yuta for his opinion, ready for another contradiction but Yuta simply hummed in approval.

The pizzeria they ended up at was one Johnny and Ten had taken Jaehyun previously and he had loved it.

“I mean,” Jaehyun said suddenly. They’d lapsed into a comfortable silence as they waited for their orders, with Doyoung scrolling through his phone and Yuta looking out of the window. Both looked at Jaehyun when he started speaking. “There’s no place this good back in the city.”

“Really,” Yuta gasped. “That’s atrocious.”

“It is,” Jaehyun agreed, folding his napkin meticulously. “It would be a shame to not have it around the corner.”

“We’ll bring some up to you,” Doyoung offered and Yuta shook his head.

“No, no, sweetie,” Yuta said. “Jaehyun got offered a permanent position here. He’s going through it.”

“I’m not  _ going through it _ ,” Jaehyun replied indignantly, ignoring the way his heart soared when Doyoung grinned wide at the news. “I’m just – contemplating.”

“Honey, you stared out during the drive and said something about the way the dew looked on the grass,” Yuta rebuked gently. “It’s usually  _ me _ doing that.”

The pizza tasted better than usual and Jaehyun tried not to think about how it might have been because of the company but all his brain did was categorize the way Yuta burned his tongue when he tried to bite into his slice too quickly or the way Doyoung looked, marinara sauce unknowingly smeared around the corners of his mouth as reasons to  _ stay _ .

-

_ winwin _

im gonna throw kook outta the car

_ You _

don’t u dare

ur so close

do Not u DARE

_ kookie  _

i’m IN this gc

_ winwin _

i’m AWARE

_ lisa _

[picture attached]

hao, jihyo and I CRUISINNNN <3

gyu took a Nap

luv roadtrips

_ winwin _

oh god

can we stop and exchange passengers

please

_ hao _

sorry babe

suffer :D <3

To say Jaehyun was excited was an understatement. He wasn’t sure how all his friends found the time to come down to him together during a weekend but they managed. It would be odd to see his city friends against the small town backdrop but that didn’t dampen Jaehyun’s excitement as he waited for the cars to roll up in front of the house.

“So, there’s nine of them?” Ten confirmed as he stood beside Jaehyun in equal anticipation. “ _ Nine _ whole people?”

“It’s not an outlandish amount, Ten,” Jaehyun said calmly. “Just because you’re friends with 3 people and the neighbourhood cats.”

“Fuck you,” Ten shot back cheerfully. “I’m friends with the  _ town’s _ cats.”

Before Jaehyun could retort, Jihyo’s car finally pulled up in front of the house with a soft rumble. Jaehyun flung the door open and bounded out, his long strides placing him within hugging range in seconds.

“Hey,” Jihyo said warmly, smiling bright and yelping with a laugh when Jaehyun wrapped his arms around her, picking her up with the force of it. “It’s so good to see you.”

Lisa and Mingyu got equally enthusiastic hugs. Minghao was more reserved but he did hold on a moment longer than usual before stepping away.

“How was the trip?” Jaehyun asked once all greeting had been exchanged. He looked at the stretch of road behind them. “Where are the others?”

“I’m betting they're lost,” Minghao said drily, taking out his phone. “Ah, yes. Sicheng texted, they’re about ten minutes out if all goes well. That sounds ominous.”

“They’ll get here,” Lisa said optimistically.

“Hi, hello,” A voice said behind Jaehyun and Jaehyun stepped aside to reveal Ten behind him. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m Ten.”

“Oh!” Lisa’s eyes lit up. “Jaehyun told me about you! You’re Thai, too right!”

Ten replied in what Jaehyun assumed was Thai and Lisa had a sly grin on her face at the words.

“Great,” Mingyu groaned. “Now we need to learn how to decode Thai alongside Mandarin.”

“Bam and I speak Thai!” Lisa defended herself but they all knew the foreign language would be heard a lot more with Ten around. While they waited for the other car to show up, Ten struck up an easy conversation with all of his friends, speaking about how Johnny was still inside making sure the table was set.

No sooner had the other car stopped behind Jihyo that Sicheng stumbled out of the back seat.

“Jaehyun, my man,” Sicheng said, bounding towards him. “I hope you appreciate what I went through for hours for you.”

“Always, Sicheng,” Jaehyun said with a laugh.

“He’s exaggerating,” Jungkook vowed, pouting. “It was great, right, guys?”

Seokmin, Yugeoum and Bambam all nodded in agreement, despite Sicheng’s fierce narrow glare.

“If I have to listen to  _ one more anime OST _ ,” Sicheng hissed loudly, throwing an accusatory look at Jungkook.

“Oh, boy,” Ten shook his head tragically. “Yuta’s invited to the cookout. It’s not your lucky day, man.”

Jaehyun had been a bit worried that nine extra people in the house would make it uncomfortable and congested, making everyone suffer but Johnny had been right when he had assured Jaehyun that the house could fit more people than it looked. The hallways weren’t too narrow and despite their chaotic personalities, Jaehyun’s friends were orderly under Jihyo’s glare. The fear dissipated entirely once they made it to the back lawn, which Ten and Johnny had surprisingly cleared up from storage and junk in a single night.

While the lawn wasn’t huge, it comfortably fit the nine new guests and the additional people that would be coming over wouldn’t crowd the place up. Johnny was already at the grill, with meats already cooked much to Mingyu and Jungkook’s eternal gratitude which they expressed by promising Johnny their firstborn children.

As Jaehyun made the rounds with his friends, catching up with all of them, his friends from the town started arriving, first with Taeil then Kun and Taeyong.

“Your loverboys haven’t shown up yet?” Jihyo teased him when his eyes kept flickering to the backdoor of the house as he listened to her tale about her coworker.

“They are  _ not _ –  _ my what – _ shut up,” Jaehyun sputtered and Jihyo laughed.

“You’re so obvious,” Jihyo said with a shake of her head. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

“I can’t wait for you to meet them either,” Jaehyun said softly before his eyes widened. “Oh, my God. Do  _ not _ let Sicheng and Lisa near them.”

“Hey,” Jihyo said. “They have to pass the scrutiny if they’re worth a damn.”

“They’re going to embarrass me,” Jaehyun whined, resting his head on Jihyo’s shoulder. She patted him comfortingly.

“They will,” She agreed fondly. “They’ll chew them up and spit them out.”

It was a bit comical, the silence that fell on the crowd when Yuta waltzed his way into the back lawn with Doyoung in tow. If they noticed the sudden hush, they didn’t say anything about it.

“We brought alcohol,” Yuta proclaimed and the statement was met with a spattering of applause.

“Thanks, man,” Johnny said with an easy grin. “But we got enough.”

“Save it for when you guys are crying about romcoms in front of the TV, then,” Yuta said. He seemed to scan the area until his eyes locked with Jaehyun’s a wide smile lit up his face.

“Wow,” He heard Jihyo say beside him. “That’s a smile.”

“It certainly is,” Jaehyun said under his breath as Yuta walked towards him. “Be cool. Be cool.”

“Sounds like you’re speaking to yourself there, buddy,” Jihyo patted Jaehyun’s arm comfortingly.

“Jaehyun!” Yuta exclaimed as soon as he was within earshot. “This is so many people!”

“Well, this is all of them so,” Jaehyun gave an awkward laugh. Thankfully, Jihyo broke any awkwardness that might have fallen.

“Hi,” She said brightly, extending a hand forward. “I’m Jihyo.”

“Yuta,” Yuta said, taking her hand and shaking it politely. “How long have you known Jaehyun?”

“Since high school,” Jihyo said and Yuta gasped, coming to sit beside her.

“That’s such a long time!” Yuta said before his smile grew sly. “Tell me about teenage Jaehyun. Was he a jock? No, no, wait. I’m sure he was the emo kid at some point.”

Jihyo laughed with mischievous glee and Jaehyun resigned himself to the good-natured teasing that would follow.

“Our Jaehyun was a popular boy,” Jihyo said, reaching forward to ruffle his hair. Jaehyun allowed it, it had been a long time since she’d last done that and it would be longer still when she would do it again. “At least half the student population had a crush on him.”

“Absolutely understandable,” Yuta nodded seriously. "Tell me, what was the best confession he got - it's for research purposes."

“This is embarrassing,” Jaehyun groaned, getting up. “I’m going to look for some snacks.”

He stretched when he got up, looking around. Minghao and Ten were sitting crosslegged together – Ten had brought his camera in from the house and they seemed to be comparing specifications, fiddling with the device and occasionally taking test shots. Johnny, Mingyu, Bambam and Lisa were in deep discussion, though Jaehyun couldn’t be sure what about. It probably had something to do with the jacket Mingyu was holding that Johnny was feeling the fabric of. Sicheng, Yogeum, Taeil and Taeyong were sitting on chairs next to each other, aggressively stabbing their phones, videogame noises loud and unapologetic. Kun and Seokmin were speaking softly about something and Jaehyun couldn’t fathom what the topic would be. Jungkook stood alone by the snacks table and Jaehyun’s feet took him to the other boy in moments.

“Hey,” Jaehyun said softly. Jungkook startled at the noise but smiled when he turned to see Jaehyun.

“Hey!” Jungkook replied. “How’re you doing?”

“I could ask you the same,” Jaehyun snickered. “You’ve been standing here for a good moment.”

“I don’t know what else to do,” Jungkook whined lowly, making Jaehyun throw an arm over his shoulder and bring him close. “It’s like everyone I’m familiar with has been paired off with your new friends – who are great, by the way, nothing against them but – I need a while.”

Jaehyun understood. Jungkook always needed a moment to become acclimated with people and his closest friends were people he’d known for years. It wasn’t that he was antisocial or reserved, he was perfectly friendly – just a bit awkward in the beginning, seemingly unaware of his own charms.

“You got me,” Jaehyun assured him. “How are things going in the city? What did I miss?”

“Well,” Jungkook contemplated slowly as he opened a bag of chips. “The ramen place we like is under renovation, but I think they’re expanding. There’s a new coffee shop and their cookies are to  _ die _ for. Yoongi hyung’s back in Korea, it’s nice. Three machines in the gym have broken since you’ve left. I think I’ve fallen in love. Also, I think my rent might increase –”

“Wait, wait, backtrack,” Jaehyun said. “You think you’ve fallen in _ what _ ?”

“Love, Jaehyun,” Jungkook said weakly in a soft voice. “Surely you’ve heard of it.”

“With  _ whom _ ,” Jaehyun asked incredulously. Last he knew, Jungkook hadn’t had a serious crush on anyone since university. Sure, he had fanciful crushes where he fell for people and waxed poetic about them and wrote songs and symphonies and then – he got over it. Jungkook knew the weight behind words like  _ love _ .

“Uh,” Jungkook was biting his lip before he continued lowly. “Okay, first of all, you can’t tell anyone –”

“Can’t tell anyone what?” Jaehyun had never wanted to hear Sicheng’s voice less, not when Jungkook was on the precipice of spilling his guts.

“Nothing,” Jungkook said, turning a faint shade of red. Sicheng raised an eyebrow and Jaehyun shrugged casually.

“Did you win?” Jaehyun asked, diverting the conversation easily.

“That Taeil guy is good and I’m very bitter about that,” Sicheng said with a frown.

It should have been easy to get lost in the conversation that ensued between the three about games and anime but it was hard to forget where he was. His eyes kept flickering to Yuta, who was still chatting with Jihyo. Minghao and Ten had joined them as well. He was, of course, still able to keep up with the conversation but it was obvious his attention was elsewhere at times.

“I will admit,” Jungkook said finally. “They’re better looking than I expected.”

“I agree,” Sicheng nodded. “Jihyo hasn’t been deterred by that one so I think they’re decent enough.”

“Wait, what?” Jaehyun came back to the conversation.

“Your boy,” Sicheng said, nodding towards Yuta, not at all discreet. “Where’s the other one, by the way?”

“I saw him go inside a while back,” Jungkook revealed. “So, how’s it going? Have you gotten dicked down yet?”

“Excuse –  _ what _ ,” Jaehyun choked on his own saliva, looking at Jungkook, absolutely scandalized.

“Oh, god, he’s adopted small town sensibilities,” Sicheng teased. “Am I not allowed to say fuck anymore?”

“It’s not that,” Jaehyun protested. “We’re not – I have  _ not _ . Be quiet. No one is dicking anyone down.”

“Well, you said they’re married, so,” Jungkook had a small smirk. “There’s certainly  _ some _ dicking down going around.”

“Hush, little one,” Jaehyun said, pressing a finger against Jungkook protesting lips. “I bid you adieu.”

“You pretentious fuck,” Sicheng said as Jaehyun walked away, jogging his way into the house to get away from everything for a moment.

He knew his reactions to Doyoung and Yuta were telling and problematic. He had to learn to be better in concealing his emotions. As Elsa said – don’t let them in, don’t let them see.

“Hey,” A soft voice interrupted the ballad his brain was undoubtedly going to belt out now that he had started thinking about Let It Go. Jaehyun turned to find Doyoung at the foot of the stairs and every thought in his mind, including Frozen related ones, screeched to a halt.

Jaehyun had never seen Doyoung like this. He didn’t know how or why he got the privilege to see him as such now but the view made Jaehyun short-circuit.

Doyoung looked freshly showered, his hair askew and damp, wearing a soft looking shirt and baggy shorts. His socks were ankle high and had cartoon bats on them. He had a towel clutched in his hand and he was looking back at Jaehyun curiously when Jaehyun finally met his eyes.

“Hello,” Jaehyun choked out. It was ridiculous to feel flustered to see Doyoung out of his formal wear but the way Doyoung was looking at him then, open and inviting, felt intimate. If Doyoung felt the way Jaehyun’s eyes lingered on the collarbone that was peeking out or at his hands, he didn’t indicate it.

“How come you’re in here?” Doyoung asked, taking the final steps towards the landing and looking at Jaehyun inquisitively. For a moment, Jaehyun forgot why he had come into the house when all his friends were outside. In the next awful moment, he remembered and he couldn’t stop his ears from going red but he sure as fuck could stop Doyoung from seeing them.

“I just – kitchen,” Jaehyun said, heading towards the location he had mentioned. He knew Doyoung had followed him by the low laugh he heard as he opened the fridge for literally no fucking reason.

“Fifteen people can be a lot to deal with,” Doyoung said softly as Jaehyun let the cool air of the refrigerator cool his face. “Hey, give me a bottle of that disgusting iced ice Ten drinks.”

Jaehyun’s eyes quickly found the can of familiar drink and grabbed one, sure Ten wouldn’t miss it amid the cartons he had stashed. He turned to hand it to Doyoung, who had hopped onto the breakfast bar. Doyoung took the drink with a soft smile and Jaehyun told his dumb, romantic heart to stop it’s inane stuttering when their fingers brushed.

“So, uh,” Jaehyun started, leaning against the closed refrigerator and crossing his arms. He looked at Doyoung, who raised an eyebrow as he took a sip from the drink and Jaehyun had to look away. His eyes fell to the floor and the fact that Doyoung’s feet dangled from his perch on the counter almost destroyed him. “How come you’re drinking that if you think it’s disgusting?”

“I haven’t been feeling so good,” Doyoung admitted. “Disgusting as it may be, it helps for some reason.”

“What’s wrong?” Jaehyun asked, frowning. “Have you been to a doctor?”

“No need, I know what it is,” Doyoung said, waving his can of tea in a dismissive gesture before taking another gulp with a wince.

“What is it?” Jaehyun asked, unable to stop himself. It wasn’t weird, Jaehyun told himself. It was natural to be concerned for a friend. Doyoung looked down at the can was holding in between his hands and chewed his lip hesitantly. “I mean – you don’t have to tell me.”

“It’s fine, it’s just,” Doyoung paused, breathing out. “Hard to explain.”

“Is it serious?” Jaehyun asked. Perhaps his fear leaked into his voice because Doyoung looked up and met his eyes. Now that he had mentioned it, Doyoung did look a little sickly. His skin seemed to be yellowing and there was something in his eyes akin to a fever patient.

“Have you made a decision?” Doyoung suddenly asked and Jaehyun blinked, startled at the change of subject.

“What?”

“About staying,” Doyoung clarified. “The permanent position?”

“Oh,” Jaehyun shrugged. “I’m still thinking about it. Why?”

“Just wondering,” Doyoung replied, swirling his can. “Should I burden you with the knowledge of my ailment if you’re just a passing figure in my life?”

It was such a strange thing to say, Jaehyun couldn’t help but huff out a laugh. If the words had come out of anyone else, Jaehyun would have thought them pretentious. Even now, Doyoung was on thin ice.

“Well,” Jaehyun smiled. “If you ever figure out that dilemma, I’m here to listen.”

“Thank you,” Doyoung replied sincerely. He then hopped off the bar. “Let’s go deal with the crowd, shall we?”

Jaehyun straightened, startling only a little when Doyoung linked their arms. His weight against Jaehyun was comforting and Jaehyun told himself it was probably due to Doyoung not feeling well. They made it out back but Doyoung didn’t detach himself from Jaehyun immediately.

“Introduce me to all your friends,” Doyoung told him as they stepped into the back lawn. “How do I impress them?”

Jaehyun laughed at Doyoung’s candid words. Jaehyun told him who would be impressed by his lawyer status and who would naturally be repelled by his snakey career. Jaehyun told him that Sicheng could out-argue him and would definitely try to; that Jungkook would tell him about Namjoon’s thoughts on the legal system as well as his own. That Lisa would ask how many serial killers he’s represented (“Zero,” Doyoung replied drily. “Then you’ll bore her,” Jaehyun rolled his eyes.) That Mingyu had gone to law school before he dropped out even though he certainly could have passed the bar exam and to  _ not underestimate him _ .

“This isn’t fair,” A voice whined, interrupting them. Yuta appeared at Jaehyun’s other side, looking up at him with betrayed eyes. “I didn’t get a crash course on impressing your friends! I was just thrown to the sharks!”

“You seemed to be doing fine of your own,” Jaehyun pointed out.

“It’s my natural charm,” Yuta sniffed. “I can only trust me and myself to get me through this cold, harsh world.”

“Stop being dramatic and tell me what you got on Jaehyun,” Doyoung said. “Any childhood stories?”

“Hey,” Jaehyun protested as Yuta ducked around Jaehyun and attached himself to Doyoung, giggling into his ear. “Stop spying on me.”

“It’s not spying when we’re doing it in the open,” Doyoung argued.

“Bambam has pictures of Jaehyun in little league football,” Yuta mock whispered to Doyoung, whose eyes lit up.

“Bambam’s the one in the corner with Yugyeom, right?” Doyoung whispered back.

“Hey, where’d you disappear to?” Jaehyun turned to look at Sicheng, who had spoken and when he turned back, Yuta and Doyoung had snuck away from his side, having easily infiltrated the conversation with Bambam in the corner.

“Took a breather,” Jaehyun shrugged.

It was easy to fall into conversation and into step with Sicheng. They had been roommates – and then flatmates – all through university and beyond until Sicheng and Minghao had decided to move in together. Despite all his friends, Sicheng was his safe space, sticking to his side was a habit he had never really entirely grown out of since he started doing it at university gatherings. It wasn’t that Jaehyun didn’t enjoy socializing – it was just that he felt more grounded when he did it with Sicheng.

As though sensing it, Sicheng stayed by his side the entire night even as they migrated from conversation to conversation and through their meals. It was probably for the best since it seemed at times that Sicheng was  _ this _ close to jumping Yuta and Jungkook and their inside anime jokes. Jaehyun’s arm around Sicheng’s shoulder and Minghao’s hand on his thigh kept him in place. Both Yuta and Jungkook had eerily similar shit eating grins that told that they knew exactly what they were doing.

It was only when Mingyu started dozing off that they started mentioning that they should leave – go to their Airbnb (one of the three in town) and get some rest for tomorrow. Still, it took another 45 minutes for the party to get up and another half hour for them to make their way towards the door. It was past midnight by the time Jaehyun hugged Lisa last and waved them all off, promising to see them the next day.

Jaehyun waited outside on the pavement until both cars had driven out of sight and then some, breathing in the quiet night air – everything still the way it only was when the rest of the town was asleep. Jaehyun was tired, exhausted, really. The last hour had just been him cuddling up to Mingyu (by far the comfiest of his boney friends) and making basic vocalizations to prove he was still awake and listening.

“Hey,” Jaehyun turned to see Kun walking towards him with a smile. “What’re you standing out here on your own for?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Jaehyun shook his head but he didn’t move. “Just – existing.”

“Mind if I join you?” Kun asked and his expression was genuine – Jaehyun had no doubt that if Jaehyun said he would mind, Kun would walk away without taking any offence. But Jaehyun didn’t mind and he said just as much.

“Your friends are really nice,” Kun said after a moment and Jaehyun grinned at the praise, pride blossoming in his chest. “I can see why you are the way you are.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jaehyun said with a laugh.

“Loved,” Kun replied fondly. “I don’t think you’ve had a lot of drama with friends.”

“That’s not true,” Jaehyun argued. “This one time, Seokmin accidentally slept through a viewing of Minghao’s painting. It wasn’t a pretty three weeks afterwards.” Jaehyun saw the look Kun gave him and laughed. “You’re right. It’s pretty tame.”

“I can understand why you’re so reserved in making new friends,” Kun teased lightly.

“And I still got attached to you lot,” Jaehyun grinned back and Kun’s grin softened.

“That’s good to hear,” Kun said sincerely.

The silence that followed was comfortable. Jaehyun looked over to his side after a moment to make sure Kun was still there. He was, playing with a flower in his hand, rolling the stem between his fingers. In his exhausted state, it transfixed him and he gasped loudly when it disappeared.

“How did you do that?” Jaehyun asked Kun, who was staring at him a little wide-eyed.

“Uh, magic,” Kun said feebly.

“Yeah, but what’s the trick? Where did it go? You’re not wearing sleeves,” Jaehyun said, taking Kun’s hands into his own. Kun grinned at him and shrugged. He took a hand out of Jaehyun’s grip and reached forward, pulling the flower out of Jaehyun’s small pocket on his shirt and presenting it to him. Jaehyun blinked at him, mind absolutely blown. “Dude, what.”

“Let’s get you inside,” Kun said, intertwining the hand that was still in Jaehyun’s grasp with Jaehyun’s and pulling him back towards the house. Jaehyun followed, still rolling the flower in his hand. It wasn’t crumpled and it looked exactly the same as the one he had seen before.

“Guys,” Jaehyun announced as soon as he entered the living room the remaining guests were converged in. “Kun’s a magician.”

There was a moment of dumbfounded silence as they all turned to look at him, nonplused. Jaehyun didn’t understand the disbelief. It wasn’t as though Kun kept his magic tricks under wraps.

“Is he, now?” Ten said with a laugh that sounded almost nervous.

“Yeah, I am,” Kun replied easily, walking over to Ten, pulling the same trick on him and conjuring a pretty flower. “Magic tricks.”

“Right, magic tricks,” Taeil said in an amused tone.

“That’s really cool,” Jaehyun said sincerely.

“Thanks,” Kun’s voice was warm. He turned to the others in the room. “Time to head back?”

There was shuffling and tired protests but Kun and Taeil did make it out the door in the next fifteen minutes. Johnny and Ten relieved themselves to their bedroom. Jaehyun could hear Taeyong in the kitchen with Yuta, munching on snacks and giggling. That left Doyoung curled up the couch. At some point, he had acquired a blanket, which was draped around him. His eyes were closed but Jaehyun doubted he was asleep.

“Feeling any better?” Jaehyun asked softly after a few moments of watching Doyoung frown and try to get comfortable. Doyoung’s eyes fluttered open.

“Not particularly,” Doyoung said with a soft smile. Something about the image tugged at Jaehyun’s heart, making him want to crowd around Doyoung and make him feel better through sheer force of will. “But I will be.”

“Do you need anything?” Jaehyun fretted. “Tea? I make a mean chicken noodle soup.”

“Do you?” Doyoung brightened up.

“Yeah,” Jaehyun stood up despite the late hour and his exhaustion. “Let me see if we have the stuff for it.”

Jaehyun started on his way, reciting the ingredients in his mind when his entire thought process screeched to a halt as Doyoung grabbed his wrist as he passed by, making him freeze in his tracks. Doyoung’s grip was stronger than Jaehyun expected it but also colder and a little clammy.

“Yuta and I will be leaving soon,” Doyoung said quietly, though his eyes held volumes as he pulled Jaehyun down to sit beside him. “Maybe some other time.”

“Ah,” Jaehyun said feebly. “Right. Sure.”

The thing was that Doyoung’s fingers still circled his wrist and when Jaehyun had fallen down beside him, Doyoung had curled his body around him, resting his head delicately on Jaehyun’s shoulder.

“For now,” Doyoung mumbled. “Share your warmth.”

Jaehyun, despite his rabbiting heart, smiled. Doyoung was boney but Jaehyun let the other man melt beside him, even if one of his elbows was poking into Jaehyun’s ribs. Jaehyun brought his arm around Doyoung’s shoulder, securing him. It was just to make sure his arm wasn’t stuck awkwardly between them, of course.

As Doyoung’s breathing evened out and his eyes fell shut again, Jaehyun took the moment to really look at Doyoung. His dark hair was fluffy from when he had recently showered and he smelled nice – Jaehyun couldn’t really pinpoint the exact scent beyond simply  _ nice _ and  _ clean  _ and the last thing he wanted to do was get caught sniffing his crush’s husband’s hair.

Lucky for Doyoung, Jaehyun radiated warmth, if his friends’ words were anything to go by. He hoped it would help Doyoung in  _ some _ way, even if he wasn’t even sure what Doyoung had come down with.

“God, if your heart is beating this erratically with a little cuddling, would it jump out of your chest if we got up to something a bit naughtier?” Doyoung asked mildly, his eyes still closed but when Jaehyun looked down, a smile was tugging at his lips.

Jaehyun swallowed. He really didn’t have an excuse. A ridiculously attractive man was pressed up against him, he couldn’t control what his body did, especially his dumb, beating heart.

“Don’t say stuff like that,” Jaehyun whispered.

“Why not?” Doyoung’s voice was equally low. He pressed a hand to Jaehyun’s chest, atop his heart, making Jaehyun’s breathing hitch. “Wow, look at it go.”

“I –” Jaehyun cut himself off, biting his lip. Thankfully, he was saved from having to give a response by Yuta and Taeyong emerging from the kitchen.

“I heard cuddle,” Yuta said sadly. “Without me?”

“I’ll cuddle you when you take me home,” Doyoung said, detaching himself from Jaehyun slowly. Despite the other man seemingly not giving off any heat, Jaehyun still felt a void on his side when he moved away. Doyoung made grabby hands at Yuta, who obliged quickly, pulling at Doyoung’s hand to pull him into an upright position before wrapping an arm around his waist. “Can we take Jaehyun with us? He’s warm.”

Yuta looked at Jaehyun with laughter dancing behind his eyes.

“As much as I would love that,” Yuta grinned. “Jaehyun has to sleep. He has plans with his friends tomorrow, right?”

“He could sleep with us,” Doyoung grumbled before sighing. “Alright, then. Onwards.”

“I’ll make sure they get home okay,” Taeyong said as they made their way to the door. “Thanks for having us. It was really nice to meet all your friends. Let me know if you need any help this weekend.”

“Thanks,” Jaehyun said, watching Doyoung and Yuta stumble on the front steps. “Are you sure you don’t need help with those two?”

“I’m sure,” Taeyong laughed. “Let me just relieve Yuta for a sec so he can come say bye.”

“That’s unnecessary,” Jaehyun said feebly but his protest was ignored as Taeyong went and took over Yuta’s position. Jaehyun watched from the door as Yuta pressed a kiss on Doyoung’s cheek, muttering something before making his way to Jaehyun.

“Hey,” Yuta said, looking up at Jaehyun. “Thanks for introducing us to your friends. Have fun this weekend.”

“Thanks,” Jaehyun replied. He wasn’t as startled as he had been last time when Yuta threw himself on him, wrapping him in a tight departing hug but it still made him feel hyper aware of all the way they were pressed together.

Yuta pulled away and took a few steps back, his grin turning mischievous.

“Doyoung’s right,” Yuta called out as he backed away. “Your heart does start to stutter at the most innocent things.”

“Are you calling yourself innocent?” Jaehyun shot back as he flushed.

“Me?” Yuta’s smirk was almost wicked. “Never.”

-

Jaehyun, much to his own surprise, had never seen this little nook of a shop before. Lisa, Sicheng, Minghao and himself had somehow been separated from the group as they walked the streets with shops looking for little souvenirs to take back with them.

The little shop barely had a display window; instead most of its visible front was taken up by a door. Minghao had slipped in before Jaehyun could say anything about how it looked a little suspicious and of course, Sicheng followed. Lisa grinned up at Jaehyun and took his hand, leading him through the dark door.

It was certainly bigger on the inside but it took a moment for Jaehyun’s eyes to adjust to the dimmer lighting.

“Can I help you?” A slight teenager stood behind a counter, looking at them curiously. He had delicate features, a bit on the prettier side but what stood out the most was his odd coloured eyes; one a deep black and the other a startling green.

“Just looking,” Minghao said breezily from where he was standing in front of a shelve of jars. “Is this Calamus?”

“Yes,” The teller said genially. “Is there something, in particular, you’re looking for?”

“My friend is a witch,” Minghao said and Jaehyun’s eyebrows raised themselves. This was news to him. “I’d like to get them a little present.”

“Ah,” The teller brightened. “What kind of witch? Do they do potions or spells? What kind of magick to they use?”

“Um,” Minghao paused. “They’re kind of secretive about it but – I think potions.”

“Well,” The teller smiled. “Perhaps you could update their inventory. We have ingredients as well as fully made potions for purchase.”

“I don’t really know what they’re lacking right now,” Minghao said.

“In that case,” The teller gestured to the display cases in front of him. “Perhaps some magickal jewellery? A protection pendant, maybe?”

“I didn’t know your boyfriend consorted with witches,” Jaehyun said under his breath to Sicheng.

“Oh, you know those arts kids,” Sicheng replied, unconcerned as he looked at some jars with  _ things _ suspended in the liquid inside them. “Always up to no good.”

“You’re an art kid,” Jaehyun had to remind Sicheng.

“This is really pretty! Come see, you guys,” Lisa called out from her place beside Minghao. Jaehyun and Sicheng moved to join them.

The piece she was pointing at was indeed very pretty. It was heavily ornate, a thick and wide gold bracelet with strange carvings on it.

“A bit much,” Minghao said and Jaehyun agreed. It probably also had a price tag on it as hefty as its weight. “What is it for again?”

“Confidence,” The teller said.

“Isn’t that playing with the placebo effect?” Jaehyun asked. “The wearer thinks they’re wearing a charm that gives them confidence so they’re more confident?”

“Hm, you’re very skeptical for a man who is wearing a very powerful protection charm around his neck,” The teller said mildly. Jaehyun’s hand immediately went to his neck, where the pendant Kun had given him hung. “Kun’s work, I’m assuming.”

“How did you know?” Jaehyun asked.

“I know his magick,” The teller shrugged. “He taught me. He has a very telling signature.”

Jaehyun wasn’t sure how to respond to that so he let the teller go back to trying to convince Minghao and Lisa to buy something expensive. His fingers played with the pendant around his neck as he thought back to Kun’s words about it, how only  _ he _ needed to believe it worked.

“Do you have something similar to what Jaehyun’s wearing?” Minghao was asking when Jaehyun tuned back in. “For my boyfriend.”

“I have something similar but it won’t be as powerful,” The teller admitted. “Stuff like that only comes customized. I can give you the retail quality of it. It still works, though; really well, if I do say so myself.”

“Sicheng, come pick a style, baby,” Minghao called out. Sicheng emerged from behind a bookshelf, holding a book in his hand, and walked over to Minghao.

Jaehyun stayed behind, fingers still toying the pendant around his neck; unwittingly, the images of Kun’s magic tricks came to his mind’s forefront. He couldn’t even begin to fathom what that mean in the light of this new, admittedly dubious information. Jaehyun shook his head; he had heard of modern day witches and the Wicca – just because they believed in their rituals didn’t mean magic was real. Still, Jaehyun smiled at the pendant – it was a nice gesture from Kun, someone he hadn’t even known for very long.

His ponderings were interrupted when the ornament atop the door jingled as it opened and someone slipped through.

“Hey, Renjun,” Jaehyun startled at the voice – he knew it all too well. “How’re you doin – Oh.” Yuta stepped into the light and looked up, staring at Jaehyun with wide eyes. “Ah. Hello, Jaehyun.”

“Hi,” Jaehyun replied, bewildered. “What’re you doing here?”

“Um, well,” Yuta seemed nervous and it was obvious because he had never been so out of step around Jaehyun before. Jaehyun had never encountered a Yuta that wasn’t sure of himself, sure everything around him – it had always felt like Yuta was a step ahead of Jaehyun; not that Jaehyun particularly minded. He liked having something to chase after.

“Hey!” Lisa appeared by Jaehyun’s side, grinning at Yuta. “Fancy seeing you here. Are you a regular?”

“Of sorts,” Yuta said slowly. Lisa’s grin widened and she beckoned him urgently.

“Excellent,” She tugged at his shirt incessantly until he followed her. “Make sure this shopkeeper doesn’t rip us off.”

“I resent that statement,” The teller – Renjun, as Jaehyun remembered Yuta calling him – sniffed. “I will not succumb to capitalist tactics.” A pause, and then – “But there is a tourist tax in there. Gotta keep the lights on.”

“That’s fine,” Minghao snorted, taking the bill with a smile.

“Jaehyun’s a local,” Sicheng pointed out. “What if he buys the stuff?”

“Do you want a punch card? Visit 9 times and get 20% off the 10 th time?” Renjun asked drily.

“You have punch cards?” Yuta asked brightly.

“No, but I can make some,” Renjun shrugged. “Anyway, the ‘local’ here is a self-acclaimed skeptic so I don’t know why I should be handing out discounts to people who don’t believe.”

Minghao paid the bill full price, looking over at the teller fondly. Yuta stayed behind, waving them goodbye as the friends slipped out of the strange little shop. Jaehyun looked back before closing the door only to find Yuta looking at him with an odd look on his face. Jaehyun smiled and waved back as Sicheng tugged him out of the store.

-

“I just think,” Jungkook whined, utterly sloshed. “That pink is a  _ very  _ pretty hair color. So pretty.”

“I agree,” Mingyu nodded seriously beside him, his red face giving away the fact that he, too, was drunk despite his greater than average alcohol tolerance. “Very pretty.”

“God,” Sicheng rolled his eyes from his seat beside Jaehyun. “Did they really come all this way just to get wasted?”

“Hey, be nice,” Jaehyun reprimanded with a smile. “We’ve had a long day – they’ve earned it.”

“I suppose they were well behaved during the picnic,” Sicheng mused.

The day had been full, starting off with Jaehyun taking them to his favourite bakery for breakfast and then dragging them along to the sights, at which they all appropriately ooh’d and aah’d and took a million pictures and figured out the right hashtags to use. After sightseeing and a little bit of shopping, they made their way towards a picnic near the woods, although nowhere near as close as Jaehyun had gotten last time.

Still, Bambam and Jungkook went to explore the woods, coming back to tell them that they were pretty sure there were witches in there or something. They didn’t stick around to find out, though, because it was on to more adventures. Chasing after memories to make and good times to have, they stumbled upon their last night together before his friends would have to go back to the city. It made something odd bubble in his chest, something he wasn’t sure he was ready to confront until he had down at least a bit more liquid courage.

Jaehyun had enjoyed his time with his friends, there was no doubt about that – he had missed them dearly and even when they were there, there was an ache in him knowing they were a mirage that would soon fade. He tried not to dwell on it, though.

“What’s on your mind?” Sicheng asked. His gaze was clear and inquisitive and Jaehyun wondered how he could handle being the only sober one when every other person was in some state of intoxication. Even Jihyo was flitting between braiding Seokmin’s hair and dozing off with her cheek’s squished against his skull.

“I love you guys,” Jaehyun said morosely as he watched Jihyo drool on Seokmin.

“We know that,” Sicheng’s tone was amused.

“I’m gonna miss you guys,” Jaehyun sighed loudly. “But I don’t wanna go with you guys.”

“We’re not asking you to,” Sicheng replied, a smile playing on his lips. “I know you’ve grown unreasonably attached to his quaint little town.”

“This was so great,” Jaehyun tipsily rushed to assure Sicheng. “I loved this weekend. But I miss going to sleep by 10 p.m. after checking my lesson plans.”

Sicheng’s laugh was melodious and unconflicted and it made Jaehyun’s tongue looser.

“I like it here,” Jaehyun said the words like a secret and Sicheng accepted them as such, moving in closer until Jaehyun rested his forehead against Sicheng’s shoulder. Sicheng’s hand was comforting on the nape of his neck and a large part of him was sad because  _ he missed this so much _ . But not enough, another part realized, to chase after it or to return permanently for it.

“I don’t understand what you’re agonizing over,” Sicheng’s words were blunt but his hand was still gentle. “It’s a longer commute but we’ll still visit.”

“But it’s not the same,” Jaehyun said, disastrously close to sniffling. “I’ll miss out on so much – I won’t be able to just walk to your place or drag Jungkook out of gym midsession to game or –”

“You’ll do new things,” Sicheng interrupted. “You’ll have job security in a job you actually enjoy, you’ll have new comforting routines with the people you’ve made your own here. And you’ll have us as well, when needed.”

“Remember when I was an antisocial prick?” Jaehyun mumbled against Sicheng’s shoulder. “How did I manage to get so many friends?”

“We’re persistent motherfuckers,” Sicheng shrugged, jostling Jaehyun a little. “Besides, you weren’t antisocial or a prick. You were just – distant. But we made it work, right? You’re not as much an enigma as you’d like to think.”

It was nice, to know that people understood him when he couldn’t understand himself. As Sicheng continued talking and patting Jaehyun in a comfortable rhythm, Jaehyun felt something finally click into place inside him.

He would be staying.

-

Two days was much too short a time for Jaehyun to enjoy with his friends but despite his puppy eyed looks and pouts, they all clambered onto their transport by nightfall on Sunday. Jaehyun wished he had longer with them but he was happy that he did everything he could have done in the short time frame.

“Drive safely,” Jaehyun said, not for the first time. Sicheng snorted from behind the wheel but gave him a good natured salute anyway. Jaehyun returned it before going over to the next car, where Lisa sat behind the wheel with one foot on the dashboard.

“You drive safely as well,” He told her, grinning when she gave him a look. He blew her a kiss, which she accepted graciously, her look melting into a soft one. He said goodbye to his other friends and made mental notes to follow up with them and keep in touch; he still hadn’t gotten the name of Jungkook’s mystery love of out him except a few drunken sobs about pretty pink hair and smelling like caramel.

Jaehyun only let his smile drop once the cars were out of sight, though a hint of it remained on his face. He looked around; they left from their AirBnb, where Jaehyun had spent the night before. He was familiar enough with the town to make his way back home; he had refused a ride with them, knowing full well how packed the car would be and that they would be going in the opposite direction.

He looked at the time on his phone; it was late – later than he expected. He supposed to goodbye process had taken longer than he thought. The walk back home would take another half an hour if he really jogged. On the other hand… Doyoung and Yuta lived a mere ten minutes away. But it was late and he shouldn’t show up unexpected – but perhaps he should  _ because _ it was late. Weren’t they always telling him to not wander around at night alone? His feet started moving before his mind could entirely rationalize his decision.

_ You _

hey i’m walking home and it’s late and i’m passing by your place, mind if i come in?

No response but Jaehyun highly doubted they were asleep; they never were at the late hour whenever Jaehyun had talked to them. Even if he was unsure, he didn’t change his path. Perhaps the paranoia of his friends had slipped into his consciousness too because he felt weary being outside so late, all alone. It was hard to shake off the feeling once he’d thought it, as though it had taken root in him and would manifest itself if he didn’t walk away fast enough.

It was an odd sort of feeling, to be followed. Jaehyun felt sure of five minutes into his walk and three additional minutes later, the hair on his arms was stiffly standing on end. Jaehyun didn’t stop and under no circumstances did he look back. He tried to keep his heart from beating too loudly against his ears.

Something eased in him as he caught sight of the familiar house. He smiled to himself as he saw the hedges had been cut and there were new pieces of décor, ones he had picked with them, the lighting in the night a comforting beacon.

The cat perched on the pillar beside the gate hissed at him – it had never done that before and Jaehyun wondered if it was hissed at  _ him _ or perhaps – he shook the thought aside and barged in. He heard the cat’s increasingly ominous meows, a clear primal warning as she jumped in front of the gate after he rushed in, facing outwards. Jaehyun couldn’t see anything but the cat had it’s back to Jaehyun and its stance was defensive. The hair on his hands fell just as the cat’s warning ended with a triumphant growl. In the silence, Jaehyun let go of the breath he had hadn’t realized he had been guarding inside his chest.

The door flung open and Jaehyun looked up, apologies dying on his lips when he saw the sight that greeted him.

“What on earth?” Yuta said, bewildered. His hair was a mess and his billowing shirt was askew, revealing pale collarbones and shoulder marred with bites and bruises. He blinked at Jaehyun before his eyes went to his cat, whom he called with a clicking of his tongue. The cat brushed against Jaehyun’s legs on its way to its master. “What happened, little one?”

The cat did not reply, instead licking the hand Yuta offered it before walking inside the house. It was only then that Yuta focused his attention on Jaehyun.

“Well, this is a pleasant surprise,” Yuta said with a soft smile.

“Hey,” Jaehyun’s voice was breathless. “Um, I texted and I was close by –”

“It’s fine,” Yuta assured Jaehyun with a grin. “We were caught up in stuff, I didn’t see your text but you’re welcome anytime, you know that.”

“What happened to your –” Jaehyun gestured at his own shoulder and Yuta looked down.

“Ah,” Yuta made no attempt to cover himself up. “Doyoung’s feeling better now.”

“Right,” The image those simple words cast on Jaehyun’s mind’s eye heated his ears. He momentarily forgot what he was doing there. “Um, I was just – I’ll go –”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Yuta said smoothly, suddenly in front of Jaehyun, taking his wrist in between his fingers. “Come inside.”

“It’s late,” Jaehyun said weakly, following Yuta inside with no physical resistance. “I don’t want to intrude.”

“You’re not,” Yuta said as he closed the door behind them, locking it. His gaze turned soft. “You never are.”

There was something about the way Yuta said it, coupled with the way he  _ looked _ and the way his eyes lingered on Jaehyun that made Jaehyun falter. He wanted to reach out and pull Yuta’s shirt up. He wanted to keep his hands to himself, lest he get carried away. In the dim lighting of their home, Jaehyun’s thoughts were getting riskier.

“Um, where’s Doyoung?” Jaehyun asked instead.

“Upstairs,” Yuta said, pointing up helpfully. “Are you alright?”

“Is there like a serial killer in this town?” Jaehyun asked suddenly, the words tumbling out of his mouth before his brain gave them permission to leave. Yuta’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean?” It was a non-answer and that agitated Jaehyun even more. Jaehyun took a deep breath. Perhaps he would sound crazy. Or perhaps he’d finally get some semblance of an answer from the ever cryptic couple.

“There’s something out there,” Jaehyun said finally. “I can feel it following me.”

“So there is,” Yuta said without a hint of disbelief in his voice. His expression wasn’t closed off, per se, but his gaze held an unfathomable look in them as he watched Jaehyun.

“Well?” Jaehyun’s voice was tinged with impatience. He bit his cheek, willing himself to calm down, telling himself the inexplicable danger he had felt that caused his blood to instinctually rush was gone, that there was no reason to take it out on Yuta. Except, at that moment, even Yuta  _ knowing _ grated on him a little. Thinking back to the last time he felt such a way and happening upon Taeil, Jaehyun got the feeling he was the only one that didn’t know.

“Are you sure you want to know?” Yuta asked, crossing his arms. His expression was serious, no hint of playfulness or teasing in his voice. “You’re not in any real danger, not while we’re around – and if you choose to leave, you’ll forget all about it.”

Jaehyun took in the words, tried to parse through what they meant but came up empty handed.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Jaehyun admitted. “So yeah, I’d like to know.”

Though Yuta’s smile wasn’t the usual bright grin or sly smirk, it felt all the more intimate in its softness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello u can find me on twitter @nyankamoto


	3. a disjointed series of scenes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! it's been an entire year since i first published this work. as i'm concluding it, i'd like to say some stuff and i'd really appreciate it if you read this.
> 
> 1) this chapter is mostly a series of disjointed scenes. in the year since i last updated, i've moved on from making content for nct. since this was my last pending work, i decided to "finish" it. what follows are the scenes i'd already written as well as some new scenes that somewhat tie the story together. but please read it as such; this is not a cohesive chapter and i wanted to warn you of that right off the bat.
> 
> 2) the reason i'm not investing time and effort into making this a more seamless final part is due to two main reasons; i) i'm starting national novel writing month from tomorrow and i'm going to working on my own original novel and ii) i just don't have it in me to write more for nct anymore.
> 
> i know a lot of people asked me about the last chapter of this and so, i felt the least i could do was give you what i had and try to tie it up in a semi neat bow. 
> 
> thank you for reading and i hope you enjoy it.

**PLEASE READ THE CHAPTER NOTES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER BEFORE CONTINUING**

Jaehyun was sat in their living room, nursing a cup of hot chocolate that Yuta had insisted he make while Doyoung made his way downstairs. Yuta had been right, Doyoung did look like he was feeling better, even if his clothes were rumpled and his hair looked like it had been ruffled and tugged every which way.

“Hey,” Doyoung said as he passed by Jaehyun, pressing a hand on his shoulder momentarily before settling opposite him. Jaehyun couldn’t help but smile over the lip of his cup at the sight; Doyoung had bunny slippers which he kicked off when he tucked his feet under him. “Yuta said you’re ready to know.”

“Am I going to find out your mysterious illness as well?” Jaehyun inquired.

“If you don’t run out screaming five minutes in, sure,” Doyoung shrugged, letting out a small laugh when Jaehyun scoffed at him. “You’re right, you’re a sceptic, it’ll take longer than five minutes to convince you.”

“I may be a sceptic,” Jaehyun said. “But I know what I felt and I trust my gut as well.”

“Your gut must be malfunctioning,” Doyoung shot back. “Considering you are willingly locked in a house with – well.”

“With?” Jaehyun raised an eyebrow in challenge, choosing to ignore the fluttering in his stomach. Locked inside with –  _ Locked _ inside  _ with _ ?

“Ya,” Yuta’s voice was stern as he plopped down beside his husband. Somehow, not a drop of tea spilt from his cup. “There’s a  _ story _ . Let’s start at the beginning.”

“Go ahead,” Doyoung said, waving an arm. He looked at Jaehyun, “I’ve never been a great storyteller.”

“So, when you say sceptic,” Yuta said, leaning forward. “What do you mean? No ghosts, no aliens, no demons?”

“Aliens and ghosts are two very different things,” Jaehyun frowned. “It would be arrogant to assume that alien life didn’t exist just because it hasn’t been documented or I haven’t encountered it yet. Ghosts on the other hand… Not so much.”

“Okay, what if I told you the world of the supernatural is real?” Yuta asked, looking at Jaehyun curiously. Jaehyun looked back.

“I’d ask you why you think that,” Jaehyun replied slowly. Even as his rational mind didn’t accept anything or jump to conclusions, somewhere in the back of his consciousness, things were clicking into place.

“What if I said it’s because I’m a supernatural creature?” Yuta replied. Jaehyun blinked at him, looking him over.

“I’d ask what creature you think you are,”

“What if I said I was –”

“Oh, God, can we stop talking in hypotheticals,” Doyoung interrupted with a huff. “I’m a vampire, he’s a vampire, lookie!”

What Doyoung was displaying were his teeth bared, which had become sharp and pointy. Silence reigned as Jaehyun just  _ looked _ .

“Is that real?” He asked weakly. He gasped when Doyoung suddenly moved from his perch and knelt beside Jaehyun.

“See for yourself,” Doyoung sounded bored but his eyes held another story, one that dared Jaehyun to fall into them. Jaehyun’s hand came to cup Doyoung’s jaw but it didn’t move further.

“You just want me to – put my fingers in your mouth?” Jaehyun frowned, flushing at his own words. “Are you sure?” Distantly, he heard Yuta snicker but his focus wasn’t able to go beyond the face in the palms at the moment. Doyoung bit his lower lip, his pointed tooth piercing the skin and drawing blood. “Aren’t vampires not supposed to have blood?”

“Myth,” Yuta called out. “We’re flesh and bone!”

“How convenient,” Jaehyun said drily, even as he watched Doyoung’s tongue flick out and pick up the blood on his lip, healing the wound instantly. Jaehyun’s own fingers hesitantly made their way to the canines. A simple brush of his finger against the point had it bleeding, pulling a gasp out of Jaehyun. Immediately, the pointed canines retracted and the notion that they were fake teeth flew out of Jaehyun’s mind. He took his finger out of Doyoung’s mouth, putting it in his own to stop the drop of blood from falling. “What else?”

“What else?” Doyoung asked, looking up with a frown.

“What else can vampires do?” Jaehyun asked. “Are you allergic to sunlight?” Another gasp, this one more for the drama. “Do you sparkle?”

“The sun,” Yuta paused, as though wondering how to phrase it. “Isn’t kind to us. Wait, so you believe us?”

“I mean,” Jaehyun held up his finger with the cut. “Kinda. I don’t know. I’m still processing but keep talking.”

“I think you should process this before we continue,” Doyoung said. “You’re welcome to give in to your urges to run away screaming but  _ no _ screaming about evil vampires to the townspeople. We don’t want a repeat of 1792.”

“Why would I run out screaming?” Jaehyun asked in confusion. “Wait – 17 what now?”

“It’s a natural human response,” Yuta said conversely. “We’re predators, technically. We don’t take offence to it.”

“I’m not scared of you,” Jaehyun said with a scoff. His uneasy stomach contradicted him and he sighed. “Alright, maybe my body is a little – instinctively weary. But I know you. I know you won’t hurt me.”

“How?” Doyoung’s tone told him unequivocally that he thought Jaehyun was a bit daft for his belief.

“Because Yuta lies on his stomach on the sidewalk trying to get stray cats to like him,” Jaehyun said with a small laugh, feeling warm with Yuta visibly flushed. “Look, you said there was a story?”

“Where to begin,” Doyoung hummed, tipping his head back, moving to sit cross-legged. Jaehyun’s eyes flickered to the exposed column of neck and his thoughts went to the recent revelation of vampires, which led to  _ biting _ which took a sharp turn into a territory Jaehyun did  _ not  _ want to go into right now. Jaehyun registered the bite marks on Yuta’s shoulder in a different light but he kept his thoughts to himself.

“At the beginning,” Jaehyun provided helpfully. Doyoung gave him a deadpan look.

“So, I’m like 400 years old,” Yuta said brightly. He was sitting on the armchair opposite Jaehyun and he was leaning forward in his excitement. Despite the complicated feelings that were bubbling in him, Yuta’s excitement was infectious and Jaehyun couldn’t help his own excitement at being let in on a secret.

“Woah,” Jaehyun couldn’t fathom living such an extended period of time. “So you were born in, what, the 1600’s?”

“Yeah,” Yuta nodded. “But I don’t really feel super old? It’s kind of like, instead of my adolescence being fifteen to twenty years, it was like – two centuries?”

“Vampirism isn’t exactly how it’s portrayed in the media,” Doyoung said thoughtfully. “Honestly, none of it is too close to home, on purpose, of course. The unglamorous truth is that it’s like living with an illness.”

“Wait,  _ that’s _ what your illness was?” Jaehyun frowned. “Aren’t vampires immune to illness or whatever? Like superhumans?”

“In a way,” Doyoung allowed. “We need blood to survive. Think of blood as medicine; as long as we get it on time and well, we’re good. But missing just a few doses and we start deteriorating. Like humans need oxygen and water and good, this altered body needs blood to survive. I had just missed a few doses and it was getting to me.”

“How does that work, though?” Jaehyun asked. “What’s the science behind it? Are your bodies biologically different?”

“Don’t really know,” Yuta shrugged. When Jaehyun raised an eyebrow at him, Yuta only laughed. “Do humans know everything about their own bodies and their existence? We have our myths and our research but we don’t have all the answers and I’m no academic.”

“You should talk to Taeil about that,” Doyoung said. “Also, vampire.”

“ _ Really _ ? Who else?”

“Ten,” Yuta counted on his fingers. “Taeil. Doyoung. Me. Kun’s a witch.”

“Kun’s a what?” Jaehyun interrupted because Yuta seemed like he was going to steamroll on.

“Kun’s a witch and Johnny and Taeyong are humans,” Yuta hurriedly said. “I think that’s enough information for you to process now.”

“No, wait,” Jaehyun protested weakly.

“It’s not like you’re going anywhere, right?” Doyoung said. “Trust me, an information dump will only make your head hurt. That’s what Taeil did to me back when I turned and it took me two years to figure out everything he told me in two days.”

“Wait, so how old are you?” Jaehyun asked.

“I was born during the Joseon period,” Doyoung sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“Okay, okay, one last thing,” Jaehyun nodded. He had time to get their stories out of them; there were more imminent things he needed to know before he could leave. “What’s been following me?”

“The short answer is that it’s a vampire as well,” Yuta said carefully. “But as I said, you don’t need to worry.”

“What’s the long answer?” Doyoung bit his lip then waved his hand at Yuta.

“I guess this is where the story comes in,” Yuta said. His tone was measured and his gaze distant. “So, this place had always been a pretty popular spot for vampires. First, it was because it  _ was _ a vampire town, you know? For hundreds of years, they had their own magicians controlling the weather, making it habitable for our kind. Eventually, humans were integrated in the community too and it was like a myth; stuff like that was easier to do in the past. We used to visit occasionally but we never really stayed long. We weren’t here when the witch hunts started.”

“I guess people were agitated from the human wars; eventually, it became too dangerous to stick around. Vampires had stayed here for peace and you might think that they could fight back but angry human mobs can terrify even the strongest of creatures. It started with a few people and then some more until there were only a couple of vampires left. The magicians had left too or were killed off and for a moment, it was like the angry mob got what they wanted, you know?”

Yuta continued and Jaehyun was silent, listening. He listened to the story of how one vampire came back and insisted on turning it back into the haven it used to be, how that vampire was none other than Taeil.  _ Their _ Taeil. Taking back their town two centuries ago, driving out the angry mob.

“Taeil’s been around longer than we have,” Doyoung said. “He understood the essence of the town and how much it meant to our people. When so many just up and left, finding friendlier pastures, Taeil refused to budge once he returned. Even I thought he was being ridiculous at the time, risking death and destruction of his property when there were so many places he could leave to.”

“It was his home,” Yuta said softly. He was curled up into himself, arms wrapped around his knees that hugged his chest. “Even back then, he used to travel for medicine and learning but he always came back. When everyone else left, he stayed and he didn’t leave again until he had solidified our place in this town again.”

“How?” Jaehyun asked. Somehow, he didn’t think the obvious answer (murder all the protesters with his sharp teeth) applied to Taeil. Even after finding out he was an ancient vampire, Jaehyun couldn’t believe Taeil would do such a thing. Perhaps it was because he was a doctor. After all, what was the common motif? First, do no harm.

“Sheer force of will, I think,” Doyoung replied with a small laugh. “This one time, it got really bad. There was a literal mob with fucking flames outside his door. They were held back by Taeil’s magician at the time.”

“Ah, I remember,” Yuta exclaimed, snapping his fingers. “Humans terrify me.” He looked at Jaehyun sheepishly. “No offence.”

“Yeah, but I remember this one image that stuck in my mind. It was the angry mob on one side and our tiny Taeil on the other and he just stood there and looked at them. And I think that’s when the people realized that he would not be moved. There was another instance later and more incidents, but I think that’s what started it.” Doyoung had a fond look on his face. “One day, I’m going to get that image commissioned by a painter and hang it up in the mayor’s office.”

“It was ridiculous,” Yuta sounded less angry and more grumpy. “Vampires built the foundations of this town; Taeil built the hospital there at the time! The audacity of those people – the  _ gall _ .”

“Babe, it was two hundred years ago, let it go,” Doyoung laughed.

“What the point of living forever if you can’t hold a grudge?” Yuta countered.

“You can live forever?” Jaehyun asked and both Doyoung and Yuta paused.

“No, not exactly,” Doyoung said thoughtfully. “We just age slower, way slower but we do age. It’s just that, in comparison to human lifetimes, it seems like we don’t. The same amount of growth humans do in like a year, vampires go through in about 60 years but it depends on every vampire and their own biology.”

“Like dog years!” Yuta explained. “Or other animals! Dogs probably think humans live forever because their entire existence is destined to be shorter. But humans do age. It’s the same for vampires.”

“Wow,” Jaehyun nodded. “Wait, what does this have to do with the thing that’s been following me?”

“Right, back to the story,” Yuta shook his head before continuing. “So, there’s this shift, right? People start tolerating vampires again because they just can’t get rid of this fucker. And then more vampires start coming back and there’s like this  _ kind of _ impasse. It’s leaning more towards everything going back to the way it was; as it should be. It was becoming increasingly evident that the vampires had outlasted temporary human passions.”

“So of course,” Doyoung muttered.

“Of course,” Yuta shook his head. “There was still a small group of people who absolutely hated vampires but they saw they couldn’t do anything. They were outnumbered, not by vampires but also by people who just didn’t give a shit anymore. There were more important things to deal with and a lot of people seemed more concerned with, like, life. So, what these little bitches did –”

“You still have a lot of hostility towards them, I am realizing,” Doyoung interrupted but he was smiling fondly.

“Which is surprising, considering how kumbaya-one-with-nature you are,” Jaehyun added and Yuta huffed when Doyoung nodded in agreement.

“I can be zen and still despise bigots,” Yuta said dismissively. “You’ll understand when you realize what these people did.”

What they did, Jaehyun soon found out, was to recruit “bad” vampires (“God,” Doyoung groaned. “You make it seem like they’re naughty children.” “Shut up, Mr I’m Not A Storyteller.” Yuta shot back.), since they themselves stood no chance. With the help of other vampires, they could both fearmonger the people into hating vampires again and they could pit the vampires against each other.

“Classic technique, of course!” Yuta ranted. “It worked to a certain extent, as it always does. It seems to be the kind of history we’re all doomed to repeat, no matter what species. It was getting dangerous. People were dying in gruesome ways and it was - it was just a mess. There were vampires going absolutely batshit and then there are vampires debating whether we should ‘sink to their level’ in retaliation, which was kind of absurd and ridiculous.”

“So what happened?” Jaehyun asked. It was so strange to him that his friends, with their peer-like faces, had lived through something so historical. 

“Eventually, a strategy was formed,” Doyoung took over and Yuta let him, as it seemed they were getting into the technicalities, which Doyoung relished in. “It was a two-pronged retaliation - separate the humans and the vampires and then subdue them separately. With the help of our witches at the time - god bless witches, in all honesty, where would any of us be without them? - we theorized we could turn their base in the woods into a crypt of sorts, contain them there.”

“How many were there?” Jaehyun frowned. If his mind was jumping to the vaguely correct assumptions… 

“During the height of the panic, there were about fifty, I would say,” Doyoung responded thoughtfully. “Though, once they realized their assault wouldn’t be taken lying down, their numbers dwindled to about twenty. Unsure why the others left, to be honest. We never really did manage to get a reasonable answer out of the ones we actually found.”

“So there are  _ twenty vampires _ contained in the forest?” Jaehyuns said incredulously. “Why  _ in the forest _ ? Why not a crypt? A deserted island? Somewhere farther away from civilization?”

There was a pause, as both vampires looked at Jaehyun, who looked back in confusion. It was simply common sense!

“Oh, sure,” Doyoung started, sarcasm dripping from his voice like a mouthful of honey. “Let me just grab these two dozen feral, homicidal vampires intent on indiscriminate killing and just take them down on a little road trip to somewhere secluded. Surely, they would cooperate with that!”

“Okay, fine, when you put it like that!”

“It wasn’t the best outcome but it was the best we could do with time and mortality pressure,” Yuta interrupted. They had their base in the woods, rather than lure them to a secondary location, we thought it was the quickest solution to just trap them where they were. Less likely to arouse suspicion too.”

“So, it worked?” Jaehyun asked. It must have if Doyoung and Yuta insisted there was nothing to be scared of. 

“Yes,” Though Yuta affirmed it, he didn’t seem happy about it. “We still lost lives. The spellwork used wasn’t the most tightly binding but there wasn’t much else we could do. We thought it worked, initially but in the hecticness of the siege, we accidentally left a magician behind. That potent blood was enough to get the vampires to break through once. It wasn’t pretty. The patch-up job was done quickly but - hey, it finally worked, I guess. The animal blood the vampires undoubtedly tried to survive on wasn’t enough to give them the strength to physically break through the barrier.”

“And they’re still there?” 

“Yeah,” Doyoung shrugged. “Taeil goes and checks every decade or so.”

“Wow,”

“Yeah,”

Silence hung in the air as Yuta got a subdued, contemplative look, as though reliving the past they had just hashed out. Jaehyun was unsure what to say, what he  _ could _ say. 

“So!” Doyoung broke the silence. “No reason to be scared now. Just don’t go too near the woods, just in case.”

“What about humans?” Jaehyun asked. “The ones who colluded and - the ones now, I guess. Do the people here know?”

“We left the humans to the human’s jurisdiction. They were found guilty, capital punishment. As for now - in a way, they do. No one goes near the woods. It’s the sort of myth that’s passed down from generation to generation. We even created fake satanist lairs in the other woods for stupid people who wanted to fight God or whatever it is kids want to do these days.”

“Huh,” Jaehyun trailed off. Perhaps they’d been right, perhaps this  _ was  _ too much information to process. 

“Are you hungry?” Yuta asked suddenly, looking at Jaehyun.

“No,” Jaehyun narrowed his eyes. “Are you? I’m not in a mood to be eaten right now.”

“While I’m sure you would be delicious,” Yuta said with a laugh and god, who  _ said _ shit like that and  _ why _ did it make an anticipation bubble in Jaehyun. Horrifying. “We are not hungry or thirsty. I was just asking because it’s late and I think you need to sleep on the information just dumped on you.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Jaehyun nodded, stretching in his seat before getting up. Doyoung nodded along. 

“The guest room is clean enough,” Yuta said as he unfurled himself from the seat. “I’ll bring you some sheets and - other things you’re supposed to give guests? Do you need to shower?”

“Wait, what?” Jaehyun’s brain was still chewing thoughtfully on something that happened two centuries ago, leaving him a bit stupefied. 

“You’re staying the night, right?” Doyoung asked, tilting his head curiously. “It’s far too late to go all the way back now.”

“I - I  _ guess _ , I mean, I don’t want to intrude so like -” 

“Nonsense,” Yuta said firmly, taking Jaehyun by the shoulders and steering him upstairs. “You’re never intruding. As you should well know by now.”

Jaehyun let himself be steered as his eyes glanced at a clock on the way - it  _ was _ far too late to walk around outside, especially after the tale he had heard.

“Unless you don’t want to spend the night in a vampire’s lair,” Doyoung said with a smirk as they came to a halt in front of a door that Jaehyun could only guess led to the guest bedroom. The clean one, since they had quite a few.

“Lair? Is that why your garden is so untamed?” Jaehyun mused before the weight of the sentence hit him. It still took a moment for his brain to recalibrate to the new information, to tamp down the sense of danger whence he remembered.

“It’s an  _ aesthetic _ ,” Doyoung whined while Yuta snickered. 

“Well, we did let you help pick out some new furnishings for the outdoors area so hopefully, it will soon be more to your liking,” Yuta said as he opened the door to the guest room. “Go on ahead, I’ll get - whatever it is guests need. I’ll google it!”

“Google - you don’t need to  _ google _ it,” Doyoung said incredulously, following his husband away from the guest room. “It’s just basic things like new sheets and toiletries and -” 

His voice trailed off in the distance as Jaehyun closed the door between them. He took a deep breath and he very suddenly realized where he was and what had transpired. 

Vampire.  _ Vampires _ ? He was sure he should be freaking out at least a little bit but his mind drew a blank. All that came to mind were brief spurts of images and words, as though being processed in bite-sized pieces. It was surprisingly easy to reconcile his image of the two with the information that they weren’t entirely human. A few of his other friends… also weren’t human. How would he talk to them again? What if it was awkward?

A knock on the door startled Jaehyun. He calmed his heart as best he could and opened the door.

“Garlic?” He questioned. 

“Delicious,” Yuta responded, handing him a stack of clean sheets and a towel. Doyoung was beside him carrying a bag of toiletries. 

“How do other people react to this?” Jaehyun asked. “I’m a bit lost.”

“Okay, sweetie,” Yuta said softly, coming in and taking Jaehyun by the forearm and leading him to a chair. After making Jaehyun sit down, he took the stack from his hands. “Um, I’ll fix up your bed and leave the big brain boy with you, alright?”

Jaehyun watched as Yuta took the toiletries from Doyoung, who came to sit beside Jaehyun on another armchair. 

“It all feels a bit unreal,” Jaehyun admitted, watching Yuta fix up the room. It was calming, in a way, to see the  _ vampire _ struggle with keeping the sheets straight.

“That’s normal,” Doyoung responded evenly. “You know if you want to leave, you can, right?”

“It’s not that,” Jaehyun shook his head. “I feel I should be wanting that but - wow, my brain kind of hurts.”

“Sleep on it,” Doyoung advised and Jaehyun thought that was sound advice indeed. “I think that would help a lot.”

“I think that would help too,” Jaehyun replied. His eyes flickered to Doyoung and he was met with clear eyes looking back at him with no pretence. Something unknotted in him and he smiled softly. “Thanks.”

“For what?”

“Telling me,” Jaehyun’s eyes floated back to Yuta, who was arranging necessities on the vanity table. 

“Thanks for being someone we wanted to tell,” Doyoung’s voice was low but sincere. “I hope this doesn’t change the way you think about us too much.”

“Unless you think it’s sexier that we’re vampires, then it can change the way you think about us,” Yuta chimed in, having finished his tasks. 

“It is pretty cool,” Jaehyun grinned. 

“ _ Cool _ is not  _ sexy _ ,” Yuta whined before sighing. “Ah, well. Get some rest, yeah? You know where the washroom on this floor is, right?”

“I think so?”

“It’s the only unlocked room on the floor beside our bedroom, which you can barge into any time, really, for real, most welcome,” Yuta said as Doyoung got up and they made their way out the door. Yuta pointed at a door. “It’s that one!”

“The washroom or your bedroom?” Jaehyun asked with a raised eyebrow.

“The washroom,” Doyoung said firmly, cutting off whatever Yuta was going to say with that mischievous look in his eyes. “Our bedroom is across from it, if you need anything.”

“Sure, thanks,” Jaehyun replied. “Goodnight? Wait, do you sleep at night? Do you need sleep?”

“ _ Need _ it? Not as often. But we like it,” Doyoung replied as they walked away. “It’s nice to be unconscious sometimes.”

What an odd way to put it, Jaehyun thought as he closed the door. But it was an odd existence as of late so Jaehyun decided he would dwell on it in his dreams.

* * *

Darkness still shrouded the room as Jaehyun woke up blearily. His internal body clock was telling him it was time to wake up, his mind becoming increasingly more clear and unable to delve back into the sludge of sleep. 

There was a certain stillness in the atmosphere that made Jaehyun feel serene. It took but a moment for his brain to catch his consciousness to where he was and the events that had transpired the night before. He sat up woefully, knowing he would have to confront the unknown today. It wasn’t an entirely unpleasant feeling; after, Jaehyun, by nature, loved a challenge. It was simply that things were not as they used to be and a very persistent socially awkward part of him didn’t know quite how to behave. 

He set about doing what he  _ did _ know how to do - cleaning himself up before cleaning up the guest room. He didn’t run into either Doyoung or Yuta on his trip to the bathroom and the relative calmness of the area indicated that the couple were either still fast asleep or in other parts of the house. 

Finally, he cautiously made his way down to the kitchen, where he saw Doyoung frowning into a pot on the stove.

“Good morning,” Jaehyun said, aiming for casual and  _ mostly _ hitting it. Doyoung looked up at him and smiled briefly. “What’re you doing?”

“Cooking,” Doyoung responded, still seemingly befuddled by his own creation. 

“And how is that going?” Jaehyun asked, stepping closer to see the deep red broth bubbling away. The scent hit his nose, making him sneeze thrice consecutively into his sleeve. “Oh, my God.”

“I miscalculated,” Doyoung said mournfully, still stirring the pot. “I haven’t cooked in a while.”

“Do you even need to eat?” Jaehyun asked. “Also, I think you should give that up as a lost cause. 

“Eating is nice,” Doyoung allowed. “But I was cooking this for you. You  _ need _ food.”

“Oh,” The gesture shouldn’t make Jaehyun turn a bit red, it was simply polite to provide guests with food. And yet, he could feel his ears grow distinctly warm. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Oh, but I did,” Doyoung said fondly. “Look at those ears.”

“Shut up,” Jaehyun should step back, he really should, the broth was making his nose tingle again.

“Make me,” Doyoung shot back. Jaehyun opened his mouth, affronted and plenty ready to rise to the challenge when a loud crunch interrupted them. Looking towards the sound, Jaehyun saw Yuta on the breakfast bar, munching away at a bowl of cereal, watching them as though they were a show. 

“Don’t let me interrupt you,” Yuta said cheerily. “Carry on. It was getting… dare I say...  _ spicy _ .”

“No,” Doyoung and Jaehyun said simultaneously. Jaehyun turned back to Doyoung and swiftly realized they were far too close and the underhanded implications of Yuta’s words hit. “I’m just going to have some cereal.”

“Yes, come join me,” Yuta said happily, pushing the cereal box his way. Which was how Jaehyun spent the morning debating the superiority of oats over cereal with vampires.

* * *

Jaehyun was staring. He knew he was but he couldn’t bring himself to look away. Armed with new knowledge, it was impossible to not see Kun in a different light and Jaehyun’s eyes trailed all over the other teacher as he sat in the staff room, eating a biscuit and looking over some papers. It was hard to believe someone who ran around trying to wrangle children into functioning members of future society for a living had enough power to control the weather.

“Is there something I can help you with, Jaehyun?” Kun asked mildly, not looking up from his papers.

Jaehyun bit his lip and looked around, making sure they wouldn’t be overheard before wheeling his chair closer to Kun until their chairs gently knocked together.

“You smell nice,” Kun commented softly. “Familiar.”

Jaehyun flushed at the insinuation.

“Doyoung and Yuta’s place was closer after my friends left and it was late,” Jaehyun said defensively. “I slept in a guest room!”

“Why, Doyoung and Yuta’s bed is big enough,” Kun earned himself a swat in the arm at the comment and he finally looked away from his work with a grin. “You know you wanted to.”

“That’s – Listen,” Jaehyun sighed and shook his head. “I’m not listening to these accusations from a witch.”

“Oh, they  _ told _ you,” Kun sounded gleeful at the idea. “Finally.”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun said. “You’re magic.”

“That’s an adorable way of putting it,” Kun said with a laugh. “Yes, I am. Want me to throw together a love potion for you?”

“Stop,” Jaehyun whined before pausing his dramatics. “Wait, you can do that?”

“I can,” Kun shrugged. “I normally don’t.”

“Is it unethical?” Jaehyun asked.

“There are different kinds of love potions, different tiers,” Kun said. “Some just nudge feelings that already exist, some cause infatuation or lust, some are ones of complete control.”

“Which ones can you make?”

“All of them,” Kun said simply before smiling. “I chose not to, though. I don’t deal in love potions in general, even though I have studied it.”

“What do you deal in?” Jaehyun asked eagerly, coming closer.

“Mainly protection and defensive spells and charms,” Kun said, reaching forward to touch Jaehyun’s chain; Kun’s protection amulet. “Most of my efforts go into  _ that _ ,” Kun nodded outside, where clouds hung dark and low.

“God, how do you do that?” Jaehyun’s tone was filled with awe but he couldn’t help himself. Kun had successfully blocked out the sun, every day.

“Science,” Kun shrugged. “I’m not creating something new; the scientific process for how clouds form exists in his realm and I just – speed it along and make it more permanent and all year round. It just takes a lot of attention to  _ minute _ detail. It’s easy for me now but I used to fuck up a lot initially.”

“How?”

“I couldn’t control the rate at which water vaporized to form the cloud and it would rain terribly every few days. Freak storms, they called it.” Kun went back to his papers. “But I got the hang of it eventually.”

“You’re doing great,” Jaehyun said earnestly. 

Kun looked up and beamed, brighter than any sun. “Thanks, Jaehyun.”

* * *

Once Jaehyun  _ knew _ , it was easy to spot the supernatural that thrummed in the veins of the town. He realized that his students weren’t  _ joking _ when they talked about their fairy tales, that Kimoon had been  _ right _ when he had kindly informed Jaehyun that his neighbour was a vampire. 

He noticed the wide berth everyone seemed to give a certain area of the woods and Jaehyun suddenly remembered his dumbass  _ having a picnic there _ . 

“Why do I feel strange though?” Jaehyun asked Ten as they had dinner. “Like, that eerie feeling I get?”

“Oh, I suppose another check on the wretch is due,” Ten said dispassionately. Who knows what kind of nonsense they’re up to in there. I told them, hey! We’re more powerful now! We can totally overcome those hags! Let's take them somewhere far away from civilization!”

“And they said it’s risky,” Johnny reminded Ten. 

“Isn’t there, like, the United Nations but for vampires?” Jaehyun asked curiously. He was a sponge, soaking in all the information he got out of his friends. 

“There used to be,” Ten said, waving his chopsticks around. “But there was a whole  _ thing _ and things went  _ boom _ and - well. You know.”

“I don’t know,” Jaehyun replied. “What  _ thing _ ?”

And thus, dinner was spent with Ten regaling the tale of how the International Grand Council of Vampires collapsed and the war of the stodgy bureaucrats.

* * *

Honestly, Jaehyun had only come over to help build furniture, which was only polite since he did help them pick it out and therefore, since he picked a table for the entrance that needed some… manoeuvring, it was only polite he be there to help. That was all he came to do - lend a hand to friends.

"He looks absolutely edible, doesn’t he?” Doyoung purred. Jaehyun only jumped minutely as the sound was so close to him, he could feel the hair by his ear move as Doyoung exhaled. He had known Doyoung was there; it was hard not to.

“Yeah,” Jaehyun said, taking another quick gulp of his drink. “You’re a lucky man.”

“I am,” Doyoung agreed, voice amused. “You know, you’re allowed.”

“What?” Jaehyun said distractedly. Yuta was playing with his ever-present necklace, deep in thought as he continued reading the manual even though they had decided to call it quits on the furniture building for the day. Even with his vampiric hearing, the look on Yuta’s face told Jaehyun wasn’t paying attention to the murmurs between his husband and Jaehyun.

“To kiss him,” Doyoung said playfully and Jaehyun sucked in a breath, eyes still fixated on the figure on the couch.

“Oh?” Jaehyun breathed out. “You just let people kiss your husband?”

“I don’t  _ let  _ anyone kiss Yuta,” Doyoung said with a snort. “Yuta kisses whom he wants. And it’s never just anyone, Jaehyun.”

“And you don’t mind?” Jaehyun asked, finally turning to Doyoung. Doyoung looked back, his expression unfathomable.

“Sometimes I do,” Doyoung admitted before shrugging. “But Yuta isn’t always impressed with my choices either.”

“Have you ever both liked the same person?” Jaehyun asked with a smile playing on his lips. He felt heat flicker in his chest when Doyoung’s eyes fell to his lips, the blank expression being replaced momentarily by hunger before Doyoung caught himself and swallowed.

“Sure,” Doyoung replied. “Are you going to continue this little interrogation or are you going to finally kiss him? You know he thinks you’re too chicken to do it yet - thinks you need more  _ time _ .”

Jaehyun had to hand it to Doyoung, he really knew how to get Jaehyun going.

“Wouldn’t you like to give him a pleasant surprise?” Doyoung said, his voice low. “He makes the prettiest noise when he’s surprised with a kiss.”

Jaehyun didn’t even bother to try and hide how that thought made him feel. It was useless anyway, even if Yuta’s mind was far off somewhere else, Doyoung could probably tell the rate at which Jaehyun’s heartbeat accelerated. Doyoung’s quiet laughter was cut short when Jaehyun turned to him instead.

“And what about you?” Jaehyun asked, even as his ears burned red. Doyoung blinked back at him in evident confusion.

“Me?” Doyoung asked, tilting his head. It was a ridiculously adorable gesture from someone who was, just moments ago, getting Jaehyun hot and bothered.

“You’re just going to watch me kiss your husband?” Jaehyun asked, smirking with Doyoung opened his mouth and then closed it.

“I could leave,” Doyoung had barely moved when Jaehyun clasped his fingers around Doyoung’s wrist. It was a grip, he knew, Doyoung could easily free himself off. Doyoung froze and the entire house stood still.

“Stay,” Jaehyun said softly, pulling Doyoung closer and placing his other hand on Doyoung’s waist.

“You don’t have to do this,” Doyoung said, swallowing. Jaehyun’s eyes tracked the movement of his throat, his mouth drying. “I’d rather you didn’t.”

“You don’t want to join us?” Jaehyun asked with a frown, his lips forming a pout. He had been sure – those hungry looks must have meant  _ something _ .

“I want to,” Doyoung rushed to assure Jaehyun, though he still looked conflicted. “I’m just – you’re not obligated to be with me just because I’m attracted to you and you have a crush on my husband.”

The twisting in Jaehyun’s gut eased as he smiled fondly – kind Doyoung, considerate Doyoung. Despite knowing how Jaehyun’s heart raced for him, despite being aware of how Jaehyun’s blood rushed around him, Doyoung still thought of himself as an extension of Yuta to Jaehyun. Yes, Jaehyun had fallen for Yuta first. It was only natural; they worked together, he saw him more than he used to see Doyoung. But Jaehyun had fallen for Doyoung as well, in his own right, away from his status as Yuta’s husband. He’d slipped for him in the grocery store aisles, stumbled near the edge when Doyoung had curled around him in his illness, fallen headfirst somewhere along the way.

He didn’t know how to  _ say  _ that, though so he just cupped Doyoung’s cheek, pulling him closer.

“I really like you, Doyoung,” Jaehyun whispered. “For you. As you.”

Jaehyun could hear Doyoung swallow, feel his shaky breath. Despite Doyoung being aware of Jaehyun’s intentions and being given an ample amount of time to move away, he still let out a surprised whine when Jaehyun’s lips met his. Jaehyun smiled into the kiss – so much for Yuta’s surprised noises. Doyoung’s lips were soft and his arms came to wrap around Jaehyun’s waist. Suddenly, Jaehyun’s back was against a wall, his body a little dizzy from the movement he hadn’t realized had happened. He couldn’t help the moan that pressed against Doyoung’s lips when Doyoung kissed him back, pressing him against the surface. Beyond the hunger and pleasure, there was relief.  _ Finally _ .

When Doyoung pulled away, Jaehyun protested, his lips following Doyoung’s in petulance. But Doyoung ducked away, laughing as he pressed his wet lips against the underside of Jaehyun’s jaw.

“Did we get Yuta out of his own little world?” Doyoung asked before licking a strip of skin. Jaehyun gasped but opened his hazy eyes to see Yuta looking at them in rapture. Jaehyun wondered what a sight he must look like; pressed up against a wall, looking debauched only from a few moments of kissing and wandering hands. Jaehyun smiled a half-smile when Yuta got up.

“Yeah,” Jaehyun said as Yuta made his way to them. “I think we did.”

Jaehyun’s eyes fluttered shut when Doyoung scraped blunt teeth against the sensitive pulse point of his neck, letting out a shuddering breath. Cool brushing the hair away from his face made him open his eyes. Yuta was closer, right beside him in fact and the look on his face Jaehyun swallow. Apart from looking turned on, Yuta looked impossibly  _ fond _ .

“Kiss me,” Jaehyun gasped out. Yuta smiled sweetly at the request, moving slowly to oblige.

It should have been overwhelming, being kissed lazily but expertly, tongues sliding together in a way that made Jaehyun shiver  _ and _ having Doyoung’s hands around him, lips marking his neck area. Perhaps it was and Jaehyun’s brain had simply short-circuited because instead of feeling too much, he felt  _ enough _ . The way Doyoung’s tongue made his skin sing and the way Yuta’s fingers played with Jaehyun’s hair felt like a comforting heavy blanket, anchoring him down, clearing his head of clutter.

“Do you want to go somewhere more comfortable?” Yuta asked Jaehyun breathlessly when he pulled away. Jaehyun barely nodded before he was scooped up in Doyoung’s arms. The flight towards the bedroom was nauseatingly quick.

“Human,” Jaehyun gasped out, his head hurting from the sudden and speedy movement as though he had slipped and fallen into a freefall. “My body isn’t used to superspeed, please.”

“Sorry,” Doyoung sounded sheepish and worried. “ I just – it slipped my mind.”

“It’s okay,” Jaehyun said, coming to himself, becoming more aware of his surroundings. They were in Doyoung and Yuta’s bedroom. Yuta was there as well, looking at Jaehyun in concern. “I’m fine, really.”

“Are you sure about this?” Yuta asked cautiously as Jaehyun’s feet touched the ground and he stretched. “We don’t want to, like, pressure you into something or –”

Jaehyun responded by pulling his shirt over his head and letting it drop to the floor.

“Oh, no,” He deadpanned. “I’m unclothed. There’s no going back now.”

“You joke but you  _ do _ know you can stop anytime, right?” Doyoung said reproachfully. “Even right in the middle, just say the word and – what’re you doing?”

Jaehyun had flung himself on the bed, his body bouncing slightly. It was a good bed, sturdy, not creaking or shifting under his weight. He couldn’t wait to get fucked into it.

“Oh, no,” Jaehyun said pointedly. “I’m half naked on some seductive vampires’ bed. Whatever shall I do?”

Yuta’s laugh was loud and infectious and Jaehyun returned his grin when Yuta appeared over him, his arms on either side of Jaehyun’s head as he straddled him.

“We can get started if Doyoung needs a minute,” Yuta said. Jaehyun only needed to wrap his arms around Yuta’s neck for Yuta to press his lips against his, more fervently his time. With his shirt out of the way, Jaehyun whined at the press of Yuta’s body against his. Yuta’s shirt had been a button-down and his fingers deftly worked the buttons while his teeth bit into Jaehyun’s bottom lip, pulling.

When Jaehyun finally got his hands on Yuta’s skin, when he was finally allowed to let his hands explore the planes of Yuta’s torso freely, he came to some realizations.

First, Yuta wasn’t entirely cold. He was cooler than Jaehyun, probably thanks to his organic system which ran at a much slower rate than Jaehyun’s did. On top of that, Jaehyun had always been on the warmer side, even for humans. With his hands pressed against skin, Jaehyun could feel that Yuta was not made of marble or stone, that he was soft and yielding under his touch, if cool against Jaehyun’s burning body.

Secondly, Yuta  _ knew _ what to do with said body and soon, all coherent thoughts and observations left Jaehyun’s find when Yuta moved his body against Jaehyun, grinding down and swallowing Jaehyun’s moans.

“Doyoung,” Jaehyun mumbled in between messy kisses. “Where –” A sigh at Yuta’s wandering hands ghosting over his nipples. “– is he?”

“Being a dirty little voyeur,” Yuta said with a snicker, though Jaehyun was proud to note that even seemed a little breathless. He was nowhere near as flushed as a human would be but his eyes were wild and his hands gave away his urgency.

“Doesn’t he want to join us?” Jaehyun asked. Even when the bed dipped beside him, Jaehyun didn’t look away from Yuta’s shining eyes. Jaehyun had never done something like this before, he should feel nervous and anxious but there was something about the way Yuta looked at him that made it hard for him to feel embarrassed. It was the way Yuta looked down at him, equal parts hunger and adoration. If nothing else, Jaehyun knew he was wanted.

“Oh, he does,” Yuta replied, reaching down to place soft pecks against Jaehyun’s neck. “You’re –” Wet lips against his clavicle. “– so –” A swipe of tongue making Jaehyun shiver. “– hot.” The praise made Jaehyun flush, blood rushing downward just as Yuta was too.

“Well, I want kiss,” Jaehyun whined as Yuta’s breath ghosted over his nipple. He heard Yuta snicker but his eyes finally found Doyoung’s, who was looking at him with such complexity of emotion in his eyes, Jaehyun almost sat up and asked him what was wrong.

“You heard the man, Doyoung,” Yuta mumbled against Jaehyun’s rib, his fingers coming to play with the waistband of Jaehyun’s pants. “He wants kiss.”

Doyoung smiled at that, the look in his eyes clearing. Jaehyun made a mental note to talk about it later but he dropped the metal notebook and pencil when Doyoung’s face came startlingly close to his, his heartbeat jumping at the way Doyoung’s lips almost brushed his coupled with the way Yuta’s mouth was still working his abdomen.

“Who am I to deny Jung Jaehyun anything?” Doyoung whispered, his lips brushing against Jaehyun’s as he spoke. Jaehyun could feel Doyoung’s breath against his lips but he only looked at him, waiting. Three pounding heartbeats later, Doyoung moved.

Doyoung kissed differently than Yuta did and it made Jaehyun giddy that he knew that now, knew that Yuta was enthusiastic and all consuming while Doyoung was steady and controlled, his hand on Jaehyun’s jaw keeping his mouth in place while Doyoung slipped his tongue in. Jaehyun’s hand went up, one entrenching itself in Doyoung’s hair while the other played with the buttons on Doyoung’s shirt, popping the first two after considerable effort. He couldn’t be blamed, his concentration skills weren’t as top notch as they could be with the way Yuta was edging closer and close to his tented crotch.

Doyoung pulled away slowly, though he remained close to Jaehyun, their foreheads pressed together.

“Are you sure about this?” Doyoung asked and Jaehyun wanted to scoff, to roll his eyes and pull Doyoung into another kiss showing him exactly how sure he was about this. But he didn’t – he knew Doyoung wanted an answer, that he wouldn’t let this go until he got it. Yuta had understood from the way Jaehyun had moved against him, from the way his body was yielding under his mouth but Doyoung – Doyoung needed words.

“Yes,” Jaehyun said, as clearly as he could. “Now can you  _ please _ take your clothes off?”

Doyoung didn’t bother with the buttons of the shirt, ripping it off as though it were made of single plier tissue.

“That was so hot,” Jaehyun said, his mouth dry. “Why didn’t Yuta do that?”

“I like my shirt, thank you very much,” Yuta’s voice came, much too prim and proper for a mouth ghosting over Jaehyun’s clothed dick. “Doyoung’s ruined too many of my pieces.”

“I mended them too,” Doyoung told Jaehyun mock conspiratorially. “400 years and he doesn’t know how to sew a button.”

“I  _ know _ how to do it,” Yuta protested, sitting up with a pout. Jaehyun lifted himself up on his elbows to see Yuta glaring at Doyoung. “I just don’t  _ want _ to. But I can do it.” Doyoung met Jaehyun’s eyes and shook his head in clear denial of his husband. It surprised Jaehyun when Yuta pounced, throwing himself on Doyoung, who let out a shrill yelp.

“Help,” Doyoung called out, reaching out to Jaehyun. “Vampire attack! Help!”

Jaehyun only snickered, the sight making him ridiculously giddy and happy. Yuta had gotten Doyoung’s wrists in his hands and he secured them over Doyoung’s head. Doyoung gave up his flight, looking up at Yuta in challenge.

“How shall we punish him for the crime of slander, Jaehyun?” Yuta asked. Jaehyun hummed thoughtfully, looking at Doyoung, who stared back wide, innocent eyes.

“A kiss,” Jaehyun said, mainly because he wanted to see them kiss, partially because he thought Doyoung’s attention being taken away from him would be an adequate punishment for his sins.

Watching Doyoung and Yuta kissing felt different; perhaps because Jaehyun no longer felt as though he was intruding on a private moment. It was interesting to see when the tense lines of Doyoung’s body melted, when he gave up his carefully cultivated control to Yuta, letting himself be devoured by Yuta. Though Yuta was smaller, he encapsulated Doyoung’s body, making Doyoung curl up around him with needy noises. His hard on hadn’t gone anywhere and it made itself painfully known when Doyoung let out a choked out whine when Yuta moved against him.

His lips were bruised and red when he pulled away, gasping for air.

“It isn’t polite to keep Jaehyun waiting like that,” Doyoung said, his voice rough and low.

“Don’t worry,” Jaehyun said in a daze, watching Yuta’s hands work the buttons and zipper of Doyoung’s pants quickly. “I’m fine.”

“He’s enjoying the show,” Yuta said smugly. Jaehyun’s ears burned because he  _ was _ . “You make a pretty picture, Doyoungie.”

Doyoung did, looking debauched under Yuta’s skilful work. Jaehyun hoped he’d get chances to learn his ways.

“I’m an interactive work of art,” Doyoung said impatiently, making grabby hands at Jaehyun. “Come here.”

Jaehyun couldn’t do anything but oblige, scooting closer until he was within reach. He was unsure what to do but Doyoung merely took his hand into his own.

“How are we doing this?” Doyoung asked and Jaehyun paused – he hadn’t thought that far ahead. Or rather, he  _ had _ thought that far ahead but it had only been thoughts of him getting fucked. He hadn’t thought about the  _ logistics _ of it all. When both Doyoung and Yuta looked at him, Jaehyun felt his body turn red.

“Why are you looking at me?” Jaehyun asked. “I’ve never done this before!”

“That’s why we’re asking you,” Yuta said gently. “What would you be comfortable with?”

“What do  _ you _ guys want?” Jaehyun asked instead and Doyoung let out a long-suffering sigh.

“Top or bottom?” Doyoung asked bluntly.

“Bottom,” The word slipped out eagerly before Jaehyun could think of a better way to put it.

“Me or Yuta?” Doyoung asked instantly after, not letting Jaehyun wallow in his embarrassment. This answer was trickier because he genuinely did not care. He didn’t want to say it in those words though.

“I don’t –” Jaehyun started hesitantly before stopping, chewing his lip. “Either? Or? Not both!” A pause. “At least not yet.”

“You are so adorable,” Yuta whined, leaning forward to kiss him fondly.

* * *

“It’s nothing to worry about, they said,” Jaehyun muttered to himself, testing his restraints. “It won’t harm you as long as we’re around, they said. Mighty arrogant of them!”

“Stop  _ fidgeting _ ,” The voice was so gravelly, Jaehyun’s own throat hurt with a phantom ache. “And be  _ quiet _ .”

“I’m not ‘fidgeting’,” Jaehyun snapped back. “I’m trying to  _ escape _ .”

“You can not. So  _ quit it _ ,” Exasperation bled into the voice as Jaehyun did not ‘quit it’. “You’re lucky you’re even alive.”

“I wouldn’t consider myself lucky,” Jaehyun retorted, looking around. He was tied to a tree whose bark was making his back itch. Lighting was dim, the tall trees overhead blocking out most natural light. From what Jaehyun could see, and  _ smell _ , God, the stench, the area was littered with the bodies of animals, drained of blood and left to rot. “Could you at least not bury them? It’s not like you have anything else to do, imprisoned here and all.”

“I will rip your tongue out,” The creature stated simply, the voice far too close for Jaehyun’s liking. Jaehyun swallowed and mentally locked his mouth. He liked his tongue. Yuta and Doyoung liked his tongue. He should keep it.

Jaehyun let his head fall back. He was certainly in a pickle of a situation and he was unsure how to get out of it. Adrenaline rushed through his veins but he wasn’t strong enough to escape his bonds so he was simply restless and jittery, watching the ancient vampire pace.

It was a sickly looking thing, seeming emancipated and high off its mind. Jaehyun briefly wondered what kind of leafy greens were growing in the area before all thoughts left his mind as the creature came unnervingly close. It looked Jaehyun straight in the eyes with its own sunken eyes, red and dry, making Jaehyun blink his own uncomfortably. 

The creature's eyes wandered down to Jaehyun’s neck and Jaehyun sucked in a breath - this was it, wasn’t it? He was going to die and he was only the beginning - who knows who else the creature could lure in through it’s strange mind tricks. Though, perhaps Jaehyun wouldn’t die in vain because surely his friends would investigate his disappearance. Surely the first place they’d look would be  _ the vampire lair in the woods in which they trapped a bunch of vampires who hated them.  _ Surely.

“God damned witches,” The creature growled and Jaehyun looked in surprise as it walked away again, going back to it’s pacing. “All my fucking problems have to do with witches. Trapped here because of witches. Can’t get out when the first human in decades stupid enough to walk in here is tied to the tree. No, of course, the stupid fucking human has to have a powerful protection charm, by a  _ witch _ .”

“Hey,” Jaehyun protested weakly. He wasn’t  _ stupid _ . He was lured here! 

* * *

Whenever he had watched people get tied up to pillars or trees, Jaehyun didn't realize how much it  _ hurt _ . His bones and muscles were aching, the cloth used to bind him was cutting into his flesh at this point and he was tired. He was so incredibly tired. He was sure the day had passed away, though he wasn’t entirely sure since the sun didn’t seem to reach beyond the shelter of these trees. Time felt fluid and confusing, so he stopped thinking about it.

The creature still seemed to be trying to find a way to get the protection pendant off Jaehyun. Any of its attempts to touch it had left is electrocuted and weak. Jaehyun was simply in awe of how Kun managed to harvest  _ lightning _ into a  _ pendant _ for him. For  _ him _ . God, it made Jaehyun teary-eyed. Or perhaps it was the lack of food.

Perhaps his mind had finally been kind and he had slipped into unconsciousness because the next thing he knew, he was startled awake to a ruckus. Immediately, his head started hurting and his stomach was twisting and he very deeply wished he was unconscious again. It felt like he had fallen asleep hungry for days on ends, like his skin would tear from a gentle graze and his bone would shatter if he even put weight on any of them. 

“Jaehyun,” A familiar voice rang in his ears. He wanted to wince. He wanted to answer. He had strength for neither. The voice grew increasingly panicked. “Jaehyun, are you awake?”

Perhaps he had made some sort of sound because soon enough, a hand was cradling the back of his head, tilting it back while something was poured into his mouth. It hurt to swallow, his throat scratchy and dry. After an eternity, or a moment, Jaehyun shuddered and breathed in, his body tingling and numb. The liquid seemed to have eased his mind a fraction, lulling him back into comforting darkness. 

Before he was enveloped in its oddly warm embrace, he managed to squint his eyes open to see who had called out his name. Seeing the two familiar forms, he gratefully slipped back into unconsciousness.

* * *

Jaehyun woke up languidly. As his eyes fluttered open, he was thankful that the lighting was dim, not the harsh lights of a hospital ward. But he was still hooked up to medical equipment, he could feel it. Despite only getting a blurry cursory glance, he knew where he was by the feel of the room, by the figure at his bedside who he focused his gaze on. 

“Wow, you’re pretty,” Jaehyun croaked out. Yuta stiffened, his eyes flying to Jaehyun’s face as the sound. “Are you single?”

“Oh, my God,” Yuta’s eyes widened as he got up, pressing a hand to Jaehyun’s forehead. “Don’t you remember me? Did you lose some memories?”

“No, no,” Jaehyun reached to take Yuta’s hand into his own but then winced as it pulled at the IV needle in him. “I’m - I remember everything. Most things. You, of course, I remember you.”

“Thank God,” Yuta replied weakly. He set about fussing over Jaehyun. “Don’t move. How are you feeling?”

“Better,” Jaehyun offered the best he could. “Where’s Doyoung?”

“Pacing,” Yuta said absently, eyes intently looking over Jaehyun as he seemed to be calling someone. “Somewhere.” The call went through. “He’s awake. Yeah. Thanks, hyung. Bye.”

“Doyoung?” 

“Taeil,” Yuta responded, sitting down beside Jaehyun’s bed again and taking his hand gingerly into his own. “Doyoung is -”

The door opened, revealing a frantic looking Doyoung, answering Jaehyun’s question. 

“You’re up,” Doyoung said, frozen at the door. 

“Yeah,” Jaehyun replied.

“You’re feeling better?”

“Yeah,”

“Do you need anything?”

“Not really, to be honest,”

“Alright,” Doyoung took in a breath. “What the  _ hell _ were you thinking, walking into a vampire crypt?”

“Haven’t the foggiest, dude,” Jaehyun replied, sad that Doyoung had chosen to stand so far away. He had two hands, god damn it. “One second, I think I was texting Sicheng, the next I was in the forest and the next - well.”

“One of the vampires; he drained all the other vampires. Who knows how that fucked him up. His body was a mess but his mind was like vibing on another plane, according to Taeil. Vampire blood isn’t really that good for us.” Yuta added helpfully. 

“Ah, Taeil,” Jaehyun said happily. “I remember seeing him when I woke up from being tied to the tree. And Ten killing the creature. That was nice. Cathartic. Really gross. Actually might haunt me. But it felt vindictively good at the moment?”

“I don’t even know what to say to that,” Doyoung said after a beat. 

“No words,” Jaehyun replied, still somewhat sleepily. “Only hand holding.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading and all your lovely comments for the previous chapters. as my original novel is also a paranormal one, i would often come to the comment section for this fic and see you guys enjoy a paranormal story i wrote and it genuinely makes me less terrified of writing my novel.
> 
> you can still find me at curiouscat.me/nyankamoto 
> 
> thank you and good bye.

**Author's Note:**

> ah! the fic is almost done tbh i just wanted the drama of releasing it on halloween so i split it into chapters, expect the second part to drop soon!
> 
> come say hi 2 me on twitter @nyankamoto or at curiouscat.me/nyankamoto !!


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